


The Dragons of Whitehill

by Avrina



Series: Tales from the Eastern Kingdoms [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adoption, Affairs, Children, Coming of Age, Dragons, F/M, Family, Family Secrets, Friendship, Kidnapping, Kings & Queens, Knights - Freeform, Lovers, M/M, Magic, Male Friendship, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Princes & Princesses, Religion, Sexual Content, Siblings, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:13:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 48,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23210773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avrina/pseuds/Avrina
Summary: Rule two countries, manage a family, prepare for your own coronation...As if that wasn't enough, Sam receives a call for help from Sarah-Jane. And despite years of silence, he sets out to save her children...
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Owen/Gavin, Romy/Sam, Sam/Owen
Series: Tales from the Eastern Kingdoms [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630612
Comments: 38
Kudos: 10





	1. For a dragon to be born, another one must die

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Dragons Don't Give A Shit About Your Outdated Gender Stereotypes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4524984) by [AntagonizedPenguin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntagonizedPenguin/pseuds/AntagonizedPenguin). 



> The Dragons-story about Owen and Gavin in the Penguin-universe was the first one I read and I fell in love with it.  
> So here we go: an adventure of Sam, accompanied by Owen, Gavin and his son...
> 
> In chapter 3 of "History Class" you can see a map for the Eastern Kingsdoms.

Sam stepped out of the teleportation pentagram and closed his eyes for a moment. Feather Springs. Whitehill. Home.  
A breeze blew across his face, the air here was warmer and not so humid, the beginning summer tasted different. He blinked into the darkness and sighed before conjuring a witch's light and walking down the narrow spiral staircase of the tower.

Right at the first passage into the castle stood Isaac with a lantern.  
"You are late."  
"When am I not?" Sam returned.  
Isaac shrugged. "True again."  
Sam gave him a questioning look. "And why are you waiting for me here?"  
Isaac sighed. "I had a fight with Lillian. About her ideas for adoption."  
"Why? I thought you'd like the idea." Even though Sam already had enough problems lurking in the back of his head, it was good to talk about other people's problems.  
"I think it's a good idea, I really do, but I think we should give it more time."  
"More time as in _"more time as a couple before"_ or so you can take an older child?"  
Now Isaac snorted, "Lillian would love to snatch a baby right after birth so she can be as close as possible to real motherhood."  
Sam laughed tired. "Do you have the money for a wet nurse?"  
Isaac shook his head.  
"Then take an older child. Great Mother, I know what I'm talking about, and I have a dull feeling I'll have to go through this a few more times."  
With a wry grin Isaak patted him on the shoulder. "It's a burden to have to provide two kingdoms with an heir, hmm?"  
But he only got a gloomy look.  
"Anyway, do you have any ideas how I can make her understand?"  
"Refuse to sign the papers?" Sam suggested pragmatically and Isaac looked at him critically.  
"I'm afraid I'll get kicked out for that."  
"Hmm." Sam shrugged. "As regent, it works."  
"Idiot!"  
Sam grinned and slapped Isaac on the back. "Find a guest room and sleep over it."  
The answer was a sigh.

~

As Sam walked past the rooms that actually belonged to Romy and had now been converted into the children's realm, the door opened and Diana looked at him with a frown.  
"Are you just getting home now, Your Majesty?"  
"Yes, why?"  
"Val had a wonderful tantrum at bedtime and screamed for you."  
Tormented, Sam grimaced. The three-year-old girl thought her father was the solution to all her problems and the _yes_ for every _no_ she got. But it didn't take Diana's glare for him to sneak past her and into the bedroom.  
Valerie slept soundly, curled up on her side and her hands folded in front of her chest as if she were praying. A strand of hair with a curl at the end stuck to her cheek and Sam carefully brushed it away before kissing the little girl's temple.  
"Good night, sweetheart," he whispered into her hair, which smelled of sticky sweet vanilla. She sighed barely audible and he sneaked out again. He nodded at Diana and then slipped through the connecting door into his own rooms where he paused immediately.

Above the couch hovered a flickering witch light, in front of the couch lay scattered documents, on the couch lay a sleeping Romy; her nightgown had fresh milk stains.  
For a moment he looked at her, her pale face, the shimmering and dishevelled braid, the slender figure that many other mothers envied. Quietly he picked up her papers and placed them on her desk before gently touching her shoulder. She immediately opened her eyes.  
"Sam..."  
"Hey, dear..."  
"Urgh..." Rubbing her full breasts, she sat up. "You're later than usual," she noticed and looked grumpy at her wet nightgown.  
"I know," Sam sighed. "But your ladies miss you and are reluctant to make do with me."  
Romy snorted unimpressed. "Some of them would _love_ to talk to you in more detail." She got up and stretched.  
"I know. But I mean it. Go to Balius in the next few days and meet some of them."  
"I can't leave Rick alone."  
"What do we have Diana for?"  
"Fine, my boobs won't like a half day without Rick."  
"And that is exactly why a normal queen has a wet nurse for her children."  
"An ordinary queen like your mother, who bitches and stitches all day long?"  
Sam sighed deeply and rubbed his temple. "My mother had an infant once. Four times to be exact, and you know her nastiness is just envy, so be a grown-up and shower your children and husband with love." That at least made Romy smile and she wrapped her arms around his neck. After a tender kiss, he asked softly:  
"Is Rick sleeping for once?"  
She nodded and kissed him again. "We could use the quiet time to talk." Sam was actually too tired to even find the idea tempting on its own, but she probably saw it in his face, because she added: "Or you could just sit down and listen." That sounded better, although he knew that baby sleep was unpredictable and Rick was a particularly bad sleeper. Romy's next kiss was convincing enough that he took a step back to let himself sink to the couch, but then a strange smell stung his nose.  
"Do you smell that?" he murmured.  
"Hmm?" she asked.  
Burning, smouldering wood. Even up north you wouldn't light a fireplace now. Goose bumps ran down his back and arms, tingling on his scalp. Panic made his heart race and he pushed Romy away rudely before he ran into the bedroom.

The nightmare which had tormented him every few nights since Richard's birth had come true.  
The cradle next to the big marriage bed was on fire.  
Apart from the fiery crackling, the scene made no sound and Sam's scream of fear stuck in his throat. And then he turned into a pillar of salt when he looked into the cradle and saw a small dragon lying in the charred cushions instead of his six-month-old son. The tiny scales shimmered like gold in the light of the flames and almost sparkled as the chest slowly lowered and raised. The baby dragon was sleeping!  
Romy stumbled into his amazement, immediately extinguishing the flames and only then seeing what Sam was staring at. "Oh," she silently said. The little dragon lifted his head and looked around before he got angry - probably because the cosy fire had disappeared - and hissed. Smoke poured out of his nostrils and he braced himself on his chubby front legs, but Romy said "ah, ah, ah!" and lifted him up in a swing. He was obviously happy with that, though, as he snuggled up against her shoulder and slowly turned back into the baby Sam knew and fell asleep again.

Sam swallowed, licked his lips and swallowed again.  
"Is there something I should know?" he asked soundlessly.  
"From the looks of it, Rick has inherited your dragon form," Romy replied softly.  
"You magically put it on me. It's not something you can inherit." Motionlessly, he watched her put Rick in the big bed.  
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," she finally said as she stood beside Sam again and cuddled up in his arms. "We're both of the old blood and you are my True Knight and..."  
"And...?"  
She leaned her forehead against his temple. "You're not just an Appleberry, darling, you're a Redthorn as well."  
"I'm an Appleberry, I smell like apples and I don't really have anything in common with the redheads. Even my mother is out of line," Sam protested weakly.  
"And yet you have their blood in you," Romy insisted and he sighed.  
"Now what do my belligerent relatives have to do with it?"  
"Legend says a dragon is the progenitor of the bloodline."  
"I know that and I think it's bull-" He paused. "Wait, a dragon in quotation marks, like me?"  
"No." She leaned back and looked at him. "Just the other way around. Among the Redthorns, the only thing that is preserved is that a dragon fell in love with a human woman and fathered a son with her, who called himself Redthorn and made a name for himself as a warrior. Among us witches, the story is told differently."  
"Which is?"  
"A witch fell in love with a fiery red dragon and invented a spell to give him human form - which is nonsense, because the spell existed centuries before. But the dragon was given human form and the witch got a son. She told people that he was cursed, which is why he had two tiny red horns on his head, but he was called Redthorn for it and could only stand his ground in the resistance army."  
"And how much of the story is true?" Sam wanted to know and looked at her critically.  
"Our version, except for a few minor embellishments, is probably the truth. And that means there's still a little dragon blood in the Redthorns." She looked at him sternly. "Alice certainly meant something else, but our union does seem to create an interesting mixture." He returned the look and then sighed suppressed. In bed, Rick turned into a dragon again and produced a little smoke, which caused some discomfort in Sam. Romy, on the other hand, sent out a small pale green spark that tickled the little dragon and persuaded him to transform back.  
"You don't look thrilled at all," she said, and he worriedly narrowed his brows.  
"I don't find the possibility of being roasted in my own bed very appealing, dear."  
She pulled a wry face.  
"And if anybody finds out about this... I don't think they'll still think of him as the Prince of Whitehill."

"I think I can keep it in check," she said thoughtfully after a while. "Not long, but long enough to find a solution that will last until he can control it and understand it."  
"Good."  
For a moment they both looked at their sleeping child, holding each other in their arms. Fear that Rick might have more magical talents than this one, settled in Sam. If this was true, Rick would be excluded from the line of succession and this in turn meant that Sam would need another child- magic-free. But Rick was only half a year old and Darkmoore finally needed the full attention of its queen again.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a faint knocking from the main room. Romy frowned.  
"Who is that now?"  
Sam shrugged and went to open the door. Commander Howard stood before him and bowed his head in greeting.  
"Your father needs you, Samson."  
"What happened?" Sam asked, immediately alarmed, but Howard indicated a minimal shrug.  
"I'm not sure."

~

In Gerald's main room, Sam stopped almost directly in the door like rooted.  
Gerald stood in the middle of the room, already in his pyjamas, and swayed; only his body servant Thorsten held him upright by the arm. He stared at the sitting area where Sylvia lay on a couch and was just covered by Cordelia.  
"Dad...?", Sam asked quietly and made an uncertain step towards him.  
"I'm sorry..." mumbled Gerald absently. "I'm sorry..."  
"Dad, what happened?"  
"I'm sorry..."  
Both Thorsten and Cordelia first bowed to Gerald, then to Sam, and then hurried out. It was strange.  
"I'm sorry..." Gerald swayed even more violently and Sam was afraid he would fall over, but something else caught his attention. Sylvia's arm, sliding out from under the covers and dangling from the couch.  
"Mum...?" With a few quick steps he was next to the couch and knelt down there. "Mum? Mum!" Her hand was cool when he grabbed it. The thin blanket Cordelia had spread over her was too small to cover her properly and so Sam saw that Sylvia was wearing only a dressing gown and was obviously naked underneath.  
"Mum...?" Nothing about her moved and in the background Gerald kept muttering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" to himself. Sam patted her cheek, but it was also unpleasantly cool. Not a warm breeze hit his hand in front of her nose, not a gentle twitch on her neck heralded a pulse.  
Shocked, he stood up and stepped right in front of his father.  
"Dad, what happened?", he asked incredulously. "Dad!" He shook his shoulders. "DAD!"  
Gerald seemed deeply shocked.  
"Father!"  
Shaken, but not capable of further reaction.  
"GERALD!"  
"We were arguing..." Gerald whispered softly. "... arguing..."  
"Dad, she's practically naked!" Sam forced himself not to yell.  
"Vanessa has taken her favorite nightgown," Gerald muttered with glassy eyes, and it took Sam a moment to remember that Vanessa was Gerald's newest mistress. Being a grandfather didn't seem to do him any good in this respect, because the young women changed scandalously often, even Sam noticed that much.  
"She yelled at me," mumbled Gerald, "yelled so much... her heart..."

Sam put his father to bed and then knelt down again next to Sylvia.  
Sylvia Ruth Appleberry, née Redthorn, Queen of Whitehill, was dead.  
Was it a bitter coincidence that Romy had spoken of the Redthorn's dragon blood today of all days? Actually, it had been Rick who had led to this conversation, a little dragon.  
Old blood, witch's blood, dragon's blood...  
Sam grimaced and silent tears ran down his cheeks. His son almost set the castle on fire and his mother died. He sobbed and pressed his forehead against the cold back of her hand.  
Sylvia Redthorn of the Blood of Dragons would never again spit verbal fire.


	2. Children are both curse and blessing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn a bit more about Sam's children...

The ash flake sailed past Sam and out of his field of vision. The whole throne room smelled burnt and still buzzed with magic in the air.  
"What exactly," he began, staring at the suddenly bare walls, "did you think?"  
"I'm sorry, Dad," Valerie said miserably somewhere halfway behind him. "I just wanted to practice the spell Alice showed me and..." She didn't finish the sentence. Sam gritted his teeth. All the tapestries, banners and flags, some of them centuries old, were nothing but ashes and soot.  
"Have you asked permission?"  
"No," was the whispered answer.  
"Then go and tell Grandfather what you've done."  
"Yes, Dad."  
He listened to Valerie scurrying out of the throne room, and only then did he exhale again, trying not to let it turn into a sigh. Slowly he walked over to the throne, wiping ashes from the armrests and the seat, and finally sighed. In less than three months he would be sitting here.  
He turned and looked at Romy, still looking silently after their daughter, a mixture of disappointment and resignation on her face. Valerie was as clumsy as she was powerful in her magic and sometimes it seemed like a miracle to Sam that both castles were still standing.  
Romy raised one hand and caught a piece of ash, then she sighed. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing left to save."  
"Would have actually surprised me," he returned and slowly walked back to her.  
"I don't even want to know what Alice was trying to teach her this time," Romy murmured and rubbed her temple, spreading ashes on it. Sam gently wiped it away.  
"There are other things to worry about. I've received a slightly panicky request to know what you intend to wear to the coronation."  
Now she rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll just have to squeeze into a Whitehill-appropriate dress."  
He raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're a long way from _squeezing_ into something."  
Her eyes rolled again, but the hard strain around her lips relaxed visibly.  
"We need to talk," she said after a moment.  
"Talk... or..." he twitched one brow, "talk?" In return he received a slap on the arm, which he accepted with a grin.  
"About the children."  
The grin went out. "What is it this time?"

~

Sam leaned against his desk, Romy opened the balcony door and then leaned against hers. A breath of fresh air blew into the room, it smelled like rain.  
"So, the kids."  
Romy sighed. "Valerie needs a knight." Sam choked on his saliva.  
"What? She just turned 20!"  
"She can't control her magic, Sam, and she needs to channel it somehow. She needs a knight to grow with him, like I did, only on a different level." It didn't take Romy's stern stare to shut Sam up. He had had long enough time to come to terms with her witch heritage and although she would always remain his little girl, he knew he had to trust Romy's judgment. How much time did he have before his daughter was a married woman? Before she made him a grandfather? He shivered.

"Help her find a decent knight," he begged, and Romy looked at him tortured.  
"As much as I love this walking magical catastrophe, I don't know if it's worth it."  
He grimaced. "Don't be so hard on her."  
"I'm sorry..." She lowered her eyes. In moments like these, he wondered if he, if he had only one son, and that son was a knightly disaster, would be just as disappointed. Probably.

"Rick has to get out for a while," she changed the subject.  
"What do you mean?"  
"The magical chains won't hold his dragon much longer, and I don't want that to happen at the coronation, of all times, so... take him and disappear with him for two or three weeks into the woods or mountains."  
Sam nodded weakly. Rick had been fourteen when they told him. He had nervously tugged at his amulet and asked: "Do I have to take it off now?" "No, but one day, definitely." He had nodded and that was the end of the matter. But now, three years later, this _one day_ had come.

Sam sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.   
"Are you afraid he can't handle it?"  
"All humans are afraid of the unknown, Romy," he replied softly. "And Rick is not necessarily the most adventurous..."   
"Thank the Great Mother."  
Sam just nodded, took a look outside and then raised an eyebrow. "What about child three?"  
Romy looked at him angrily; she hated it when he counted the children like that- especially because he usually started with the three and that was her favourite.   
"There's nothing new about Matt."  
He snorted. "Don't tell me. What has he done this time?"  
"Nothing, Sam!"  
"Your tone betrays you."  
She huffed quietly. "Matt didn't do anything wrong." Silent and doubting, he looked at her. As calm and level-headed Rick was, as wild and cheeky was their fifteen-year-old curly head.  
"Some girl, once again, I'm not supposed to know about?" Sam didn't know all the details - Great Mother, he didn't want to - but after Gerald had sent one of his former mistresses to the hormone-ridden boy a year ago, he turned into a little womanizer.  
"No." Romy sighed. "We've been talking about his assignment to a knight."  
"So what's the problem?"  
"He wants Vincent-"  
"Over my dead body!" Sam hissed before she had even finished speaking. Sir Vincent was a walking hotbed of vice and he even made Alistair look like an angel of innocence. "And if Commander Cullen lets this happen, heads will roll."  
"Samson! You can't behead the commander just because-"  
"In three months, I can and will! The man is a complete failure and-"  
"Hothead."  
He blinked at the signal word, took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. With increasing age and the constant stress, he exploded unpleasantly often.

Romy stepped up to him and caressed his cheek. "Talk to Matt. And talk to Cullen and the knights."  
"Great Mother, I can't wait for Gordon to be old enough to take over the post," he murmured and received a soothing kiss on the cheek.  
"Everyone here knows that, darling."  
He growled at her. "And child four?"  
She sighed and rubbed her temple. "I'm taking Sammy with me to Balius."  
"What for?"  
"Let him get used to the country."  
"What for?" Irritated, he registered that she was turning pale and her eyes were moist.  
"In a few years we'll have to send him to the fortress."  
Astonished, he blinked at her. "Sammy is... a witcher?" With her nodding, a cold hand wrapped around his heart. Since the beginning of her reign, Romy had made sure that the Order of Witchers and their fortress received the greatest possible support and by now the witches of the Eastern Kingdoms knew where their sons were well looked after. But all this progress did not help to get over the fact that valuable knowledge had been lost through the reign of the Empire and still far too many novices broke or died.  
"But... but Sammy is an Appleberry..." The news shook Sam to the core.  
"I know." Romy said softly, looking at her hands. "I only noticed it a few days ago because Ruben made a strange remark..."  
Sam stepped out onto the balcony and took a deep breath. He loved all his children and would not have traded any of them for all the luck or money in the world, but Sammy... his Sammy... Born on his own birthday and named after him, the little adventurer was a more exuberant copy of himself.

"Not Sammy," he murmured and looked down into the garden without seeing anything.  
"Would you prefer it had been Matt?" Romy asked with a hint of bitterness and almost he said _yes_. But he remained silent and stared at Franz's memorial flower until he had calmed down a little.  
Then he asked, trying to be cheerful: "A witch, a dragon, a knight, a witcher... what do we miss?"  
Romy's answer was a sob and hastily he turned around and hurried back to the room where he stopped her from running away and pulled her to himself.  
"I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean... I'm sorry."  
She clawed into his shirt and wept.  
"I'm sorry, sometimes I'm an idiot," he whispered in her hair and closed his eyes, letting her scent wrap around him and calm him down. They both knew what was missing in the list.  
Roseanne, the second little witch, Sammy's twin sister.  
Sam managed to ignore the blackwood tree they had planted for her in the garden, but Romy...  
She was a healer and yet she hadn't been able to save her own baby. Her grief still burned hot inside her like a forge fire.

When she had calmed down a little, she wriggled out of his arms and slipped into the bedroom. He looked after her and wiped his wet cheek before turning around and closing the balcony door. It had begun to drizzle, which was not exactly good for his mood. Undecidedly, he stroked the small wooden swan on Romy's desk, looked at the pile of documents on his without motivation and rubbed his neck.  
Couldn't someone have warned him that crown prince, king, husband and father was a troublesome mixture?

To make things worse, there was a thunderous knocking, but before he could do more than raise his eyes, the door was already ripped open and Sammy stumbled in panting, a message cartridge in one hand.  
"Dad..."  
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Where do you come from?"  
Bracing on his knees, Sammy looked up. "Sorry..."  
"And why are you playing the errand boy?"  
"A messenger..."  
"Take deep breaths, slow breathing."  
Sammy nodded and handed the message cartridge to his father. It was black and unmarked. "A messenger has come. Collapsed right past the north gate," Sammy then laboriously reported and Sam raised the message cartridge meaningfully, whereupon Sammy guiltily lowered his eyes- he had been in the city against orders.  
"What did we tell you?" Sam wanted to know strictly.  
"I'm not allowed to go into town until Mum lets me carry a dagger," Sammy muttered.  
"What was the crest of the messenger?"  
"Grey with a large dark blue circle in the middle."  
"Lord Sapphire..." Astonished, Sam stared at his son, who looked back uneasily.  
"Who is that?"  
The simple question made Sam blink. "Family, Sammy," he said softly. "My sister Sarah-Jane and her husband Trent. Their twins."  
Sammy was attentive enough not to expand on the question, but Sam said:  
"You should pay more attention in your lessons."  
"But there are so many crests!" The desperate exclamation made Sam smile and he ruffled Sammy through his hair, which shimmered in the same honey blond as his own.  
"Tell me about it."  
Sammy shrugged and bit his lip. "Are you mad at me?"  
Sam sighed and pulled his youngest's ear in a warning. "When a messenger rushes himself and the horses in such a manner, it will hardly only be an invitation for tea. But I still expect you to obey the rules, young man."  
"Yes, Dad."  
"And when you find your brothers, tell them we need to talk."  
"All of us?"  
"No."  
"Okay..." Sammy slipped out and Sam looked at the message cartridge with an uneasy feeling.  
What could the Sapphires have had to say to him after ten years of silence?


	3. Blood is thicker than water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The actual news from Sarah-Jane and some father-son-talk...

_"You have four healthy kids, you should consider yourself lucky."_   
_"There should be five, Trent. And trust me, if it would bring my little girl back, if I would kill somebody, I would do it."_   
_"Believe me, Sam, I'd kill you all if I could hold a child of my own flesh and blood in my arms in exchange."_

The shiny gray sealing wax cracked softly when Sam broke it. Hesitantly, he unfolded the heavy paper and stared at the dark ink, which formed a surprisingly short message in Sarah-Jane's handwriting.

_Sam, we need your help. Keywords: dragons, witches. Get here as soon as you can._   
_Sarah_

Below it was a date not quite two weeks ago, but next to it was a crossed-out date thirty years ago. Besides the fact that his sister had signed with _Sarah_ , these keywords irritated him. Was he now considered a witch whisperer and dragon slayer?  
"What did Sammy want?" Romy's voice made him wince, then he waved suggestively the message. She frowned. "Who was he playing messenger boy for?"   
"Apparently, a messenger collapsed right at the north gate..."   
She approached him and took the paper off him. Her eyes and nose were red from crying and a little swollen and at that moment you could see that time didn't stop for her either. Her frown deepened.   
"Is the message really from Sarah-Jane?" she wanted to know critically and Sam grimaced.   
"Since we've been preparing for the coronation, you see betrayal everywhere."   
"That doesn't answer my question, but yes, after ten years of hostile silence, one can question such meaningless news." Her voice got an angry undertone; she was still mortally offended.   
"It is her handwriting," he said, wisely swallowing everything else that was on his lips on the subject. "The paper and sealing wax are of the highest quality, and the ink glitters a little, if you look closely- it was made especially for the Sapphires."   
"What is this old date?"   
He sighed and rubbed his neck as he rewound and thought back thirty years. "She was 15 then," he muttered. "At fifteen she started to be called Sarah-Jane."   
"What for? And why does she only sign with Sarah?"   
He sighed again and tried to remember the time, but by then he had avoided her and her condescending manner as much as possible.

"Trent," he finally said.   
"Hmm?"   
"I think it was because of Trent. Father showed her her engagement contract at that time and there she should be presented as _princess Sarah-Jane_. I think she said she deserved to be called by her full name..."   
Romy raised an eyebrow and shook her head gently. "So you think it really is her letter."   
"Yes."   
Now it was her turn to sigh and then the paper suddenly shimmered. Under the actual message, in the pale letters of a secret ink, it said: _They have our children._

Sam blinked at the words and then looked up at Romy. "Is she trying to tell me that a duo of dragon and witch kidnapped the twins?"   
"Who knows." Romy shrugged lightly.   
"I don't like this," he said softly.   
"No reason you have to."   
"My sister sent me a call for help, Romy. After 10 years of..."   
"I know." She interrupted him angrily. "Still, why is she asking for your help? Help, as soon as possible. It's illogical. It takes a messenger, when he ruins the horses, almost two weeks. Even if you were flying as a dragon, would it take you... I don't know, six days? In that time, half of Rockvalley could be out looking if someone _really_ did kidnap their kids."   
"What if this is about trust?" he objected. "An exceptional situation which might lead to peace? I mean, what good would such a message do her if it were false? If this is the truth, then you can assume she'll turn the Eastern Kingdoms upside down."   
"What if someone just wants you out of the castle?" she insisted and he rolled his eyes.   
"Romy, please! What for?"   
"To kill you? To kill your family?"   
"Don't get paranoid now!"   
"May I remind you that my sisters have each killed members of their family?"   
He sighed annoyed. As much as he loved her, but...  
"Dear," he then said softly, "I appreciate your concern, but Sarah-Jane does _not_ swallow her pride for a banality or a coup or whatever. The twins are everything to her. And that's exactly why I'm at least gonna hear what she has to say."   
Romy made a face. "Under no circumstances are you to go alone."   
"No, I'm taking Rick with me."   
"No!"   
"You wanted me to go off into the wilderness with him for two or three weeks, and here's a wonderful justification for it."   
"Sam, you can't... I didn't mean..."   
He raised an eyebrow. "No?"   
Her angry protest was interrupted by a knock.   
"Come in."

In keeping with the cue, Rick opened the door and entered, followed by Matt. "Sammy said you wanted to talk to us." Apparently he was worried by the faces of his parents, because he kept his voice neutral.   
"Right." Sam nodded to his sons, gave Romy a meaningful look- which she answered with a beaten sigh- and then took Sarah-Jane's message from her to hold it out to Rick. Surprised, he crossed the room, but only grabbed the paper when Sam nodded at him.  
His gray eyes flitted over the few words. "From Aunt Sarah-Jane?"   
"Yes."   
Matt frowned as he approached. "I thought you weren't talking."   
"We're not." Sam said, and Rick said:   
"She's asking Dad for help."   
"Why?" Questioningly the two looked at Sam and he shrugged.   
"Except what it says, I don't know any more... But I intend to find out."   
Rick's face, which resembled more and more Sam's as he grew up, was even more serious than usual. "Are you flying there?"   
Sam nodded. "I want you to come with me." Stunned, Rick looked at him, but before he could ask further, Sam tapped his own magic necklace. Quickly Rick's fingers flew to his amulet and he turned pale.   
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Romy softly turned. "However..."   
"No. No, I'm going with Dad." Rick nodded in haste.   
"Fine. Can I leave the preparations to you?" Sam asked.   
Rick nodded again. "When are we leaving? Would you like someone to accompany us?" He sounded a little insecure, but Sam couldn't blame him.   
"Tomorrow, if nothing comes up. And no, just you and me."   
"You should at least take a knight with you," Romy said critically.   
"No."   
"But-"   
" _No_." Even after twenty years Romy didn't want to realize that the dragon had a more or less big problem with other men, and so she looked at him angrily, forgetting about her worries and the fact that they wanted to keep Rick's dragon heritage a secret.

Sam nodded at Rick, who gave him the message back and threw a little smile at his mother before he left. Matt looked at him a little confused. Sam watched his son thoughtfully for a moment and then made a decision. The boy might look like a Blackwood, but he smelled of apples and therefore followed the Appleberry bloodline.   
"Romy, with the coronation papers is the document that Gordon must sign."   
Since she obviously couldn't follow his leap in thought, she looked at him questioningly. "Which one?"   
"The one that makes him the Regent, if anything happens to me. Have him sign it as soon as possible." Giving her a sharp look, he put a hand on the shoulder of Matt, who suddenly seemed uncomfortable. "It takes a lot to put my sister off her game, and in the current legal situation it would be foolish to leave Whitehill unprepared."   
"So our future king is happily running off with the future crown prince into the mountains and into an absolutely unpredictable problem?" With her doubtful look he wasn't sure if she had understood him, but he smiled wryly and patted Matt on the shoulder.   
"Why do we have three sons?"   
"What?" Matt squealed pale in comparison. "I am not prepared for this burden at all!"   
"Then you should pursue your studies intensively while I'm away."   
Hastily Matt nodded and after a hurried glance at his mother he hurried out.

"I thought you wanted to talk about his future mentor as a knight," Romy remarked pointedly when the door had closed.   
"That would have just ended up with him switching to _stubborn_ and getting some kind of approval in my absence. This way you can at least be sure that he'll really stick his nose in a book," Sam returned with a sigh. He knew it wasn't quite fair to Matt, but Romy would comfort her favorite child anyway. She sighed.   
"Are you really just going to drop everything?"   
"She's my sister, dear. And I mean it- Sarah-Jane is usually unshakable in her elevated serenity." But Romy didn't like that either and so he took her in his arms. "All I want to do for now is hear what the problem is. I may be a lot of things, but I'm certainly not invincible, and if the solution to the problem is not in my power, then I'll just come back."   
"Promise? No I-want-a-last-time-of-fun stories?"   
"And even no I’m-getting-old-and-don’t-want-to-see-it adventures, I promise." He winked at her and she nodded before kissing him.  
"Now," she murmured against his lips, "we _really_ need to talk."

~

The filled transport net with the leather straps was ready when Sam entered the large courtyard of the castle. The guards, soldiers and servants retreated, leaving only his family on the edge.   
Sam gave Valerie a loving smile and his daughter- a not so thin copy of her mother- smiled back.   
"Take care of yourself, Dad," she whispered as she hugged him.   
"Leave my castle in one piece."   
"I'm trying." Embarrassed, she looked at him and brushed a strand behind her ear. Matt stood a little stiff, trying to look taller and older, and Sam patted him on the shoulder.   
"Mind your studies, look after your sister and keep Sammy in line, okay?"   
"Of course, Dad," Matt said with unusual seriousness and Sam suppressed a grin, but then made "Whew!" when Sammy gave him a big hug.   
"Take care of yourself, Dad. I don't want Matt to be king."   
"Hey!"   
Sam giggled and ruffled Sammy through his hair. "I'll be back soon. Just follow the rules, okay?"   
"Yes, Dad." For once, Sammy seemed serious. Romy kissed Rick on the pale cheek and smiled encouragingly at him before turning to Sam.   
"If you come back without my son, I'll kill you," she said coldly.   
"You've already threatened me with worse things," he returned smiling and tried to kiss her on the forehead, but was stopped by a violent blow to the chest.   
"I mean it, Samson." Her eyes were cold.   
"Me too."   
She lowered her eyes and accepted a kiss on the cheek; she didn't like the matter at all. Gordon didn't seem to like it either.   
"I sincerely hope that by the time you get there, the whole thing will have dissolved into something more pleasurable."   
Sam shrugged. "You can hope for many things. Keep an eye on the mess, will you?"   
Gordon took a look at Matt and Sammy. "I'm trying."   
They patted each other brotherly on the shoulders and then Sam nodded to Rick before he went over to the dragon harness.

He transformed- Sammy gave an enthusiastic squeak- and snorted into the cool morning air. Without moving, he stretched his long neck in Gordon's direction and growled at him; the dragon didn't like his little brother much.   
"Take care of our sister, you monster, I've got the situation here under control," Gordon exclaimed pompously as always.   
"Dad?"   
Sam pushed the dragon aside and looked at his son. Rick smiled a little tense.   
"Help me with the harness, okay?"   
Sam carefully threw the leather straps over his broad shoulders and then lifted Rick up there. He heard the buckles click and then felt a gentle pat, which must have been a violent knock in reality. The leather wings gave a sharp snap as he spread them out jerkily before he leapt into the air with a mighty jump. Greeting, he spat a flame over the castle, then he turned to the northwest.

~

"Dad?"   
"Hmm?" Sam got startled; he had fallen asleep leaning against a tree. Rick looked at him uncertainly and seemed to be searching for words, holding in his hand the amulet he had taken off at their first resting place around noon.   
"You should put it away."   
"I know..." He hastily stuffed it into one of the two backpacks. When he looked up again, he asked: "Does it hurt?"   
"What do you mean?"   
"The transformation."   
Sam smiled. "Not to me. And I guess not to you either, or you wouldn't have been so eager as a baby."   
Rick nodded thoughtfully.   
"Are you afraid?" Sam asked and sat a little differently. The small fire made light and shadow dance across Rick's face and made it hard to read his expression correctly. Finally, he nodded.   
"I feel clumsy even as a human, but as a giant dragon? I'm afraid of breaking something or someone. I mean, I can breathe fire and... I..."   
"Why do you feel clumsy?" Sam asked in surprise; Rick was extremely skilled as a squire with almost all the weapons, and the last time Sam had watched him take a dance lesson, he had almost become jealous. Uneasy, Rick shrugged.   
"I don't know." He stared into the flames. "My body never really seems to do what it's supposed to. Sometimes it feels like it's not really me, it feels like it's all wrong."   
Sam slipped a chuckle. "It's called growing up, Rick. You're neither here, nor here, nor here," he tapped him one forehead, upper arm and chest, "full-grown. I used to feel that way myself."   
Doubtfully, the teenager looked at him.   
"Really. There were times when my body was kind of too big and my head was filled with fantastic ideas. And then again I felt trapped inside myself, too big for the human body." With an understanding smile he shrugged. "I still haven't really got used to the wings after twenty years, but you were born with them, so don't worry. The dragon form is a part of you, and until your human form is fully grown, you've made friends with it."   
"I hope so," Rick murmured.   
"And I am sure of it."

The second evening they talked about knight training and as tired as Sam was, he enjoyed the silence of their secluded resting places and the opportunity to talk to his oldest son in peace. And Rick also seemed to enjoy the undivided attention of his father.

On the third evening they set up their small camp near a village, protected by a magical artifact that Sam only had to activate. Rick, who had gone to the village to buy a fresh addition to their travel provisions, came back with fresh bread and cold roast - and a rather confused look on his face.   
"What happened?" Sam frowned.   
"There was a girl at the baker's..."   
"And?"   
"She smiled at me."   
Sam laughed softly. "Is that why you're making such a face?"   
"I've never seen a girl smile at me like that."   
"Oh, I bet all the girls in the castle are smiling at you."   
"Because I'm a prince. But nobody knows me here."   
"Well," Sam grinned, "I guess than it's because of you."   
Rick blinked confused and blushed when he realized. Embarrassed, he ran his fingers through his hair. Sam's grin shrank to a loving smile; Rick was on his way to becoming a really good prince and successor, but he was incredibly shy when it wasn't about being a knight or affairs of state.   
"After you met Mum... how... when did you know you were in love?" Rick finally wanted to know quietly and almost carefully. Sam, a little surprised by the question, raised his eyebrows.   
"I slipped out an _'I love you'_ and only then realized I actually meant it." He shrugged. "Mum was a real pain in the ass to begin with. Why do you ask?"   
"I'm just curious," Rick said apologetically. "I know you love each other, but it doesn't work overnight."   
"No, not really." Sam agreed with him and inspected him. "Is there a girl you like?"   
Rick shook his head. With his tense posture, Sam was reluctant to ask any more questions, but he was sure that the subject was not over yet.

The next evening Sam jumped into a pond to wash himself and felt as if he was almost freezing to death. When he dried and dressed next to the small fire, Rick asked:   
"Why is your ring red?"   
Sam paused and Rick pointed blushing at Sam's crotch. "It's not a guard ring, it's a heart ring."   
"Because you're married to a witch?"   
"No, because I love a witch." Shivering, Sam slipped into a heavy coat and held his hands close to the flames. "Such rings are rare and represent absolute devotion on both sides. They bind us together."   
"Can you communicate with it?" Rick curiously asked, and Sam giggled.   
"No. Well, supposedly it works a little differently for each couple and focuses on different... aspects." He wasn't sure how far his explanation should go, but since it was Rick sitting next to him and not Matt, he said with a cautious smile: "They connect us on a sexual level. We can feel each other's arousal... and our activities."   
Rick blinked in amazement and blushed. "So you can never get a mistress the way Grandfather does."   
"No." Sam preferred not to mention that he didn't have a mistress, but a male lover - which Romy not only knew about, it had practically been her idea.

"Is it normal what Matt does?" Rick then asked, crumbling a piece of bread.   
"What exactly do you mean?" Sam asked back as if he really had no idea what it was all about.   
"Well... Grandfather's mistress... all the girls... I saw him in the hallways the other day making out with one of the laundry girls. Whatever they did or didn't do after that, but..." He hesitated.   
"But...?"   
"He's only 15..."   
"Shouldn't the question be: what is normal?" Sam then asked cautiously. "Everyone grows up differently. A friend of mine was happily trying out everything at that age, too. One of the squires in my class took a vow of chastity after he was knighted, because he wasn't interested in any of this." He shrugged.   
"How about you?"   
"Me?"   
Rick nodded.   
"A prince and knight should be a virgin until he marries. I stuck to that." Maybe not always with the greatest conviction, but he didn't have to tell Rick that. And what his sentence implied, he didn't have to explain.   
"When I'm crown prince, I'll have to go looking for a bride, won't I?"   
Sam nodded.   
"What if I don't want to?"   
"Well, then you'll have to give up the throne, plain and simple."   
Again the conversation ended at this point.

And again the conversation continued the next evening after Rick had had time to think all day during the long flight.   
"What," he started, "if at some point I find I'd rather kiss a boy?" He still sounded reserved, but not quite as terribly shy as at the beginning of this series of conversations.   
"So what? Just do it."   
"Yes, but... I must get married and have children."   
Sam shrugged. "So? Even if women turned you off rather than on... there's an aphrodisiac and you can close your eyes... or give up the throne." He thought of Ginevra and Gavin, who after all had had three pregnancies. "You've got two witches in the family who-"   
"Don't you dare tell Mum!" Rick intervened.   
"Hypothetically, I mean." Sam said, placating and smiling. "Anything you say here stays between us, man's word of honor. And I don't care if you like boys or girls or both."   
"I don't even know if I like anything..." Rick muttered, barely audible.

They spent the evening of the sixth day of their journey in silence. Sam didn't know what to say, and Rick seemed to have said everything he wanted to say. Besides, Sam also knew his son well enough to know that he would analyze his father's answers in all directions, and only then would he bring up the subject again.   
Sam needed patience for all his children, though for completely different reasons.

~

Under the excited shouts of the guards, Sam landed in the forecourt of the defiant castle which the Sapphires called home. Rick routinely loosened the buckles and then slipped off Sam's back.   
"Sam? _Rick_?"   
Sam looked over to the castle portal while he used his claws to pull the harness from his back.   
"Aunt Sarah-Jane! Uncle Trent!"   
"Oh Great Mother, you have come!" Absolutely unimpressed by the huge golden dragon, Sarah-Jane hurried across the courtyard, her heavy skirts gathered. Sam took on human form and smiled at his sister in a somewhat tense way, while Trent followed her in a much more controlled manner. She embraced her nephew and stared at him in surprise, then she turned all her attention to Sam. A strange relief was written on her face, but Sam noticed most of all how old she looked.   
"You came," she said softly.   
He nodded. "I wanted to know what this was all about." She nodded hurriedly and then Trent stood next to her. He too looked much older than he was, and his always slim figure was now unhealthily bony.   
"Let's go inside, it's a little chilly out here."   
It was bitterly cold in Sam's eyes, but he nodded plainly. Trent shouted orders about the dragon harness and their luggage, and then they entered the castle.  
  


Sam and Rick spooned a heavy stew, while Trent reported briefly what had happened. Basically, it could be summed up as follows: Emily and Emmett had gone off with some experts to look at a landslide that had badly affected a village farther east when a dragon kidnapped them. According to eyewitnesses, the dragon was dark blue, almost black, and had turquoise spots on the edges of its wings. The dragon had flown east and so far there were no indications or sightings. Threehills was informed.

"Why would a dragon just take two people at once?" mused Sam. It had to be big enough to do that, and dragons don't get that big anymore these days. Trent shrugged in response.   
"Except to us, the two are worthless. I mean, to Rockvalley or politically," he added as Sarah-Jane was about to protest. The title of the Sapphires was no longer what it had been when the engagement of the two had been decided, plus the twins were just adopted.   
"Isn't it said that dragons like to steal pretty things?" Rick asked cautiously. Trent laughed softly, there was something desperate about it.   
"But you can't polish people and put them in a corner to look at."   
"Great Mother, what if it's a male and..." Sarah-Jane didn't finish the sentence.   
"Even if the dragon is only half the size of Dad, it is anatomically impossible," Rick said shyly, earning an irritated look from his aunt. "I've seen him pee in dragon form," he added dryly and Sam sighed.   
"Besides that, why would a dragon kidnap a human man with it?" He shook his head.  
The conversation went round in circles. Gavin was mentioned, but none of them knew _why_ he'd been kidnapped back then. When Trent left the unprogressive discussion because of the arrival of a messenger, Sam had a headache.  
"Trent didn't tell you everything," Sarah-Jane said after a moment's silence. Sam raised an eyebrow.   
"Why not?"   
She looked at her hands folded in her lap. "Because Trent has been a member of a cult that the high priests don't like to see." She hesitated. "The Path of the Seven."   
"I never heard of that," Rick admitted softly and Sam huffed.   
"They worship seven goddesses, each symbolized by one of the seven sacred trees. Supposedly, the Great Mother is just a fusion of these seven."   
"And the aspects that are worshipped today are actually the goddesses in their own right," Sarah-Jane added. "Trent has built a chapel in the mountains where one of her priestesses lives. As long as we met her conditions and demands, everything was fine and her promises all came true more or less, but then..."   
"That doesn't sound very serious," Rick remarked critically. Sarah-Jane gave him a sad smile and then said, surprisingly motherly:   
"When Trent and I were engaged, we were infants and his grandfather was the most powerful lord in Rockvalley. Since then, the country has suffered repeatedly and badly and Trent doesn't want to go down in history as the lord who led the Sapphires to ruin."   
"I understand that," Rick said seriously and nodded.   
"To get back to the point... Am I to understand that you think the cult could have sent this dragon?" Sam wanted to know and Sarah-Jane nodded.   
"There are seven demands of this priestess which remain unfulfilled. I don't know the exact wording, but the last one was a kind of blood toll."   
"Does she know the twins are only adopted?"   
"It's an open secret."   
This was a development that really gave Sam a stomachache. Messing with a religious cult was really _not_ one of the things on his to-do list. But 'that's a different kettle of fish' he couldn't say either, because first of all it was about family and secondly it seemed like a dark omen to him that he had received a rather annoyed message from Gavin only a few months ago concerning the spread of the cult in the valleys north of Threehills.  
  


"Are there any other dragons around here who might know something?" Sam asked Trent during dinner.   
"Somewhere to the north lives an old male. In summer he often comes to the villages in human form, but it's too early for that. In the west there's a couple living with a cub, but they're very reserved and only talk to a few," Trent replied with a faint shake of his head.   
Sam nodded thoughtfully and gave Rick a questioning look. His hand slipped to where his amulet would otherwise have been, and after a moment of unease, he nodded decisively. Sam emptied his wine.   
"I promise nothing," he began. "I _can't_ promise you anything just because I can turn into a dragon. But I will go to Threehills and ask around. The dragon academy might have some ideas."   
Trent hurriedly nodded and Sarah-Jane jumped up. Sam could just get up before she fell around his neck and sobbed. Surprised, he patted her back.   
"Sarah, I'm going to ask Gavin for help," he whispered in her ear, grateful that Trent couldn't see it. "He takes care of the cult there."   
"Thanks, Sam," she said, choking.   
"I'm your big brother, should I just abandon you?"   
"They are not of your blood."   
"But you are and to you, they are as treasured as if they were. They're family."


	4. Discussing theories is not a particularly fun pastime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why the twins were kidnapped?  
> Well, apart from that, we get a reason for the Sam/Owen-tag...

"Sam, wait."   
Sam paused and turned halfway around. Trent looked a little tortured and ran his fingers through his hair.   
"I wanted to... um... I mean, I appreciate what you're doing for us, really." Sam barely nodded, but Trent was already continuing in a hurry. "I'm sorry. For the words that were spoken back then." For a moment he seemed indecisive, then his face turned into a cautious smile. And since Sam wasn't an overly resentful person and Romy wasn't here to protest for the moment, he smiled back just as carefully.   
"Let's leave the past... well, just in the past, okay? If need be, we can always discuss it later."   
"I will gladly forego any discussion when I get my children back," Trent said seriously. Sam knew that Trent, in particular, had taken a long time to accept a son with whom he had absolutely nothing in common, but the twins were the same age as Rick and maybe a few man-to-man talks had cleared things up a bit.  
"Dad, are you ready?" Rick stepped halfway through the yard door and Sam nodded. Trent held out his hand and Sam grabbed it.   
A handshake, from worried father to worried father, then he turned away.

~

"Uncle Owen!"   
Sam found it quite telling that Rick rushed at Owen first and gave the redhead a big hug.   
"Hey, kiddo..."   
Ginevra smiled and Sam, still shivering in the cool corridor so close to the wind-blown yard, kissed her on the cheek before briefly hugging his nephews.   
"Well, did you see the Gendel's Aisle from above?" Gavin's question was addressed to Rick, who now dutifully gave his aunt a kiss on the cheek, but Sam blinked at him irritated. Before he could say anything, Ginevra gave her husband a pat on the back of the head.   
"They came from the west, you idiot, and the aisle is to the southeast! Honestly, with your knowledge of geography, as king you'll bring chaos to the country!"   
Owen, Garett and even Rick giggled so that Sam allowed himself a smile. Jon, however, seemed confused.   
"My history book says something about Genedel..."   
"They only added the _e_ because it sounds better," Owen explained, putting an arm around the boy's shoulders as they walked.   
Sam shivered, he desperately needed a hot lunch and a hot bath.   
"But the dragon called himself Gendel. If you rearrange the letters, you get the word _Legend_."   
"Oh," Jon made.   
"And a legend he really was."   
"Well, Gendel must have been pretty real to leave such traces and then become a legend," Sam remarked dryly.   
"Did you see the other aisle?" Garett curiously asked and Sam nodded.   
"It's not quite as big, but it's no less impressive."   
Ginevra sighed. "Haven't you men got anything better to talk about than past wars?" she wanted to know. "What are you here for anyway? And more importantly, why are you coming from the _west_?"   
"We went to visit aunt Sarah-Jane and uncle Trent," Rick said soberly. Sam could see Gavin frowning and Ginevra's face furrowing into a mute sigh.   
"Boys, why don't you go to the library and reread the story about the defensive wars and Gendel," Owen suggested seriously. Sam looked at his sister questioningly, but she barely shook her head.   
"But we were all going to have lunch together now," Jon protested. Garett was more reasonable:   
"Come on, if you can give Uncle Owen a proper account of the battle arrangements later, he'll bring us some cake from town tomorrow."   
"Right."   
Jon continued to moan, but followed his brother.   
"We raised those boys well, huh?" Gavin grinned at Sam, who knew full well that Gavin didn't really contribute much to his sons' education.   
"Let's go to have lunch, I'm starving," he said instead, his stomach rumbling in match.

~

After Sam had finished his short report, Ginevra sighed and twirled her wine cup with a discontented face.   
"This damn cult could have remained where it had been since the fall of the Empire."   
"Tell me about it," mumbled Gavin.   
"How dangerous has the cult become?" Sam wanted to know and frowned, in Whitehill, the Path of the Seven was practically non-existent.   
"Dangerous in and of itself, it is not. Not yet."   
"A cult is only as strong as its followers," Ginevra said. "And it is mostly the less fortunate citizens who turn to the Path of the Seven."   
"It's the quantity," mumbled Owen.   
"Yes, but Aunt Sarah-Jane said their promises came true. What are these promises and _how_ do they come true?" Rick asked in between.   
"Magic?", Sam shoved in as a question and Gavin nodded.   
"The priests and priestesses who take care of these promises and rewards are all more or less magically gifted. And yes, Sam, that makes them potentially dangerous, but I've observed them now long enough and more than spreading out and robbing the citizens, they don't do."   
"Not yet," Owen muttered.   
Sam sighed. "So the theory that the cult took the twins as punishment is moot."   
"Probably." Gavin nodded again.   
"But that doesn't mean that the dragon acted of its own accord," Owen said. "What did it look like?"   
Sam repeated the description and Owen frowned.   
"Turquoise stains?"   
"Uncle Trent said so. Do the stains have any meaning?" Rick asked.  
Owen nodded. "Only the shape-shifters have such striking marks. There are only two or three bloodlines left, and most members stay away from humans in dragon form so as not to attract attention."   
"I didn't even realise they still existed," Sam said in amazement and Owen made a face.   
"They live in the valleys to the north." He snorted angrily. "The very valleys where the cult now spreads and builds temples."   
"A community representative complained a while back," Gavin added thoughtfully. "Well, the dragons, I mean. Because the cult is spreading."   
"And what does this have to do with the Sapphires?" Rick wanted to know confused.   
"Either a lot or nothing," Ginevra said with a sigh. "Trent was here with the twins when said representative came to see us."   
"Oh, Great Mother..." Sam muttered, "I hope he didn't offend the dragons."   
"Not for our eyes or ears," Gavin replied slowly. "But I'll check it."   
"Sarah-Jane will kill him if it's his fault," Ginevra said, almost compassionately narrowing her brows.   
"If he is to blame for the disappearance of his children, he deserves nothing else," Owen lightly remarked, he too had an interpersonal problem with Trent. For that remark, however, he got a critical glance. "Like _what_? Anyone who joins a cult like that and makes an enemy with dragons, even though they are his neighbours, is just stupid."   
Sam rubbed his forehead. "Why did you send the boys away, by the way?" he asked, because apparently the discussion was getting nowhere.   
"Jon's too young for this sort of thing," Owen said determinedly and Gavin sighed.   
"We've got the Sapphires' message but haven't told the boys yet. I'm not sure how Garett would react to this..."   
"Oh, dear, I thought his dalliance with Emily was just a summer fling." Questioningly Sam looked at Ginevra, who shrugged.   
"When Trent was here with the twins, it started again. Emmett probably didn't think it was funny at all and the two of them got into a big fight."   
"But they're cousins," Rick threw in confused.   
"Legally speaking, yes, but they're not blood relatives," Owen calmly explained. "Otherwise," he nodded to Gavin and Ginevra, "they wouldn't have been so calm about it either."   
Rick still didn't look too enthusiastic about the idea.   
"Unfortunately, the world is not as simple as one imagines it to be," Ginevra said softly, and with these words the lunch meeting dissolved.

~

Sam almost didn't hear the knock.   
"Hello, Sam." Owen stood in the doorway, a cheeky grin on his face.   
"Hey..."   
"Apparently, the hot bath didn't do you as good as hoped."   
Sam huffed. "I feel even more shitty, thank you. Do you have any idea what it's like to fly and sleep on the ground for two weeks almost nonstop?"   
"Flying- no. Sleeping on the ground- yes. I was a mercenary once." Owen winked at Sam and strolled through the guest room to a dresser. From a drawer he took a fist-sized bulbous jug of shimmering glass and examined Sam, who was already wearing borrowed sleeping clothes, from top to bottom.   
"Well, sweet princess, how about a hot massage after a hot bath?"   
A shy smile crept across Sam's face. "If Sir Knight offers it so kindly, I can hardly say no..."

Sam sighed deeply and Owen chuckled softly.   
"You should come over more often."   
"I know..." Sam muttered.   
"Does Romy know you're here?"   
"Hmm... Rick was... talking to her..." Sam replied dozily.   
"It must be exciting to be able to talk to each other in your dreams." Owen's hands glided oily and warm over Sam's body and he felt so warm and sleepy that he needed a moment to answer.   
"I prefer being married to a witch to being born of one."   
Owen chuckled again and then pressed painfully on a muscle knot.   
"Ah!"   
"You are not relaxed."   
"Ah- damnit- I flew and- ow! Owen!"   
"Relax, honey..."   
Sam suppressed the next cry of pain to such an extent that it became only a soft groan.   
"That," Owen noticed close to his ear, "sounds much better." His tickling breath gave Sam goose bumps. Sam sighed and turned his face away from the pillow a little to keep his sounds from getting muffled unnecessarily, then made a pleasurable "hmm" as Owen's hands slid towards his butt.   
And Owen took his time. Well, after a merry extended family dinner they had the whole night to themselves and Owen seemed to want to savour it to the full. His thumb circled and massaged around Sam's anus, slowly building pressure until the finger slid in. Sam sighed.   
"Does my little princess like this?"   
"Hmm..."   
A little later, when two fingers were massaging this magic point somewhere in Sam, there was nothing else in his head but this feeling and he gave in to it completely.

It had been Romy's idea. Back when Roseanne died, when Sam quarreled with Sarah-Jane, when there was no room for his own feelings - and especially his grief - between his existence as father, husband, king and regent, Romy had told him to find a place of retreat. A place where he didn't have to take full responsibility. She had noticed that Owen could certainly help him in his search and Sam had found that retreat.   
In Owen's arms, in Owen's bed.   
The basis for what they had here and now had been laid in Balius, when they were both involuntary knights for young witches. It had been a joke when Owen called Sam a princess, but now... It was a controlled role play, the shy princess and the strong knight, but it helped Sam to calm down, and Romy benefited from it too in the end, when he slipped into Owen's bed two or three times a year.

"Ngah..." Sam made all those uncontrolled, lustful noises that Owen liked so much. He lay on his side and Owen snuggled up against him from behind, holding him safe and warm in his arms, protecting him.   
Owen's gentle movements in Sam weren't enough to satisfy the redhead, but that's all Sam could bear. The gentle thrusts were accompanied by tender fingertips dancing across Sam's chest, caressing his nipples or his abdomen.   
"You're insatiable today..." Owen muttered teasingly as Sam still didn't come after a small eternity.   
"I enjoy you," Sam muttered, gasping for air as Owen's fingertips stroked his balls. Then he bent his arm back and buried his hand in Owen's hair, who then kissed him on the shoulder.   
"Oh..." Sam made then, as Owen's fingers reached his penis. "Oh... Owen, wait... Ow... ooooh!" He wheezed, riding the waves of orgasm, barely feeling Owen pull away.   
"You are beautiful," Owen muttered, and when Sam found the strength to blink, Owen was above him, holding himself in his hand, and seconds later, Sam was covered in cum.   
"Wow... okay... my little princess is pleased?"   
"Very. I thank Sir Knight for his services."   
Owen nodded and dropped himself next to Sam.   
Role play finished, time for cuddles.

"I love you," Sam said softly, leaning his head on Owen's shoulder.   
"I love you more." He was kissed on the head.   
"I love you the most."   
Owen's usual response didn't come and Sam frowned before leaning back and looking at Owen. "What's wrong?"   
Owen sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.   
"You don't need to lie to me, Owen..."   
"I didn't mean to, Sam. It's just... we're getting old."   
Sam snorted. "I'm the first of us to pass the fifty. So?"   
With sticky fingertips Owen tenderly caressed Sam's face, touching the corners of his mouth, the corners of his eyes and his forehead. "I don't mean we're gonna get wrinkles and slow down."   
"Then what?"   
"Garett's little summer fling with Emily showed me that we... well. It's time for the next generation."   
"No lies, Owen."   
Owen sighed and bedded his head on Sam's chest, Sam rubbed his back. "There's a young knight...and Gavin..."   
"I see." Gavin had a weakness for handsome knights.   
Owen sighed deeply. "Gavin loves me, I know that, but... I'm _nobody_ , all my titles are basically just _hollow_ , and what do I own?"   
"You are loved, you have friends. When you get tired of Seven Hills, come to Feather Springs, come to Balius. The Great Mother knows that Matt would need a few weeks of your undivided attention at the training yard."   
"That's not what I mean..."   
"Then what?"   
"Friends, yes... but... they're not _my_ family. It wasn't _me_ who married Ginny. It was Gavin. I'm not your brother. I'm not a _real_ uncle to any of the boys."   
"But it doesn't matter. Garett and Rick would-"   
Owen sniffed and Sam paused.   
"Oh, Owen..." He hugged him tightly. All the comforting words that went through his mind would be useless, perhaps making it even worse, because he felt that Owen was still not telling him the full truth. Something was still lurking there.

~

Owen woke Sam by whispering a whole bunch of dirty stuff in his ear until Sam was painfully hard.   
"Don't you dare touch yourself," Owen threatened, slipping out of bed to go to the bathroom. Sam groaned and rolled over on his back and rubbed his face.   
"Dad!" Rick ripped open the door and Sam squealed in horror.   
"Can't you knock?" he hissed and immediately regretted his tone with Rick's frightened face. The bedroom of a parent couple was more of a semi-open family zone than an intimate retreat, but he didn't like this fact and by now the children were old enough... especially as he didn't want to explain the Owen-thing to Rick either. Not at all. The kids didn't need to know everything.   
"I'm sorry, Dad," Rick said softly, with big eyes. "I... I spoke to Mum. And...erm..." Apparently his eyes now fell on the bulging blanket, because he blushed. "Um..."   
"What did Mum say?"   
"Um..."   
Sam sighed. "Do we need to have another talk about what's normal as the body grows up?"   
Rick turned bright red and took a step back. "We'll talk at breakfast." The door slammed shut and immediately Owen burst with laughter in the bathroom.   
"I still remember you telling us about it, to Franz and me..." He giggled. "Did you leave a similar trauma with Rick?"   
"I fear so..." Sam sighed deeply and Owen leaned into the doorway, chuckling and with arms crossed.   
"You are an amazing father."   
"Thank you."   
"I mean it."   
"I know." Sam smiled and Owen nodded before looking for his clothes. But Sam also knew that it was Owen who raised Garett and Jon, not Gavin.

~

Garett was smart enough to understand that this particular problem was none of his business and apparently it dawned on Jon as well, for after breakfast the two disappeared without protest. King George and Queen Belinda had already declared the day before that they would rather not interfere, and so the five of them were sitting at the cleared table when Rick cleared his throat.   
"You spoke to your mother?" Ginevra asked softly. She looked tired and in combination with the concerned wrinkles and the- after two children and twenty more years of age- chubby face, she resembled Sylvia in a way that Sam found a little scary.   
Rick nodded. "I had told her before what the Sapphires told us and she said... well." He cleared his throat. "Anyway... to make things even more confusing, the Karasso Mountains are vast and somewhere up there live some banished witch clans. The last two families were stripped of their titles and banished when Mum and Uncle Ruben were born."   
"What, are we going to have to deal with renegade witches now?" Owen asked with a sigh. They hadn't said it, but Sam knew that Owen would accompany him from here.   
"Yeah, you know, the thing is..." Rick closed his eyes and concentrated. In this state, half awake half dreaming, talking to someone was exhausting and he could only talk to his mother or sister because they were witches and related to him. Matt couldn't, but Sammy would probably be able to in a few years.   
"The witches are very concerned about the Duality of Being," he said in an attempt to remember the conversation correctly and to render it reasonably well. "In the old days - and I mean pre-Empire times - twins like Emmett and Emily or Mum and Uncle Ruben were thought to embody this duality. The witches who were last banished wanted to hold on to the old rituals."   
"And what kind of rituals are these?" Gavin frowned.   
"I sense evil," mumbled Sam.   
"Mum said it was some sort of fertility ritual..." Rick sounded insecure.   
"This is perverse," Ginevra said in disgust and grimaced. Sam sighed and rubbed his forehead.   
"Honestly... of the three options, a fanatical cult would be my favourite explanation."   
"Oh, yeah? You can negotiate with dragons. Or kill them if necessary. We have experience in that, if I may remind you." Owen interjected.   
"We have experience with witches too, Sir Owen, and that is precisely why I hope it's _not_ crazy witches," Sam returned. He saw Owen hiding a shiver.   
"That is exactly why I bet on dragons," he said softly. They exchanged glances and Rick cleared his throat again.   
"Mum says... she says... the two are special. Someone who knows properly blood magic..." He closed his mouth again, but they could guess the rest of the sentence.


	5. ... and then it became a boys' trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin and Owen do, what they do best.   
> Oh and there's a lot of talking...

"Don't you think _you_ should explain to Jon why he has to stay here?" Sam wanted to know carefully and gave Gavin a quick sideways glance. He straightened his bow on his back.   
"I already did. That's why he's arguing with Owen now."   
"Oh."   
Owen looked as if he was about to start yelling, but apparently Jon noticed this too, because he threw his arms in the air in an angry gesture and stomped away. Owen's shoulders slumped down. But before Sam or Gavin could say anything, Garett approached them.   
"I know it's none of my business, but just be careful out there, okay?" At that moment he looked more like his grandfather George than ever. Gavin nodded.   
"Of course. Look after Jon and Mum, okay? And listen to your grandfather, he knows what he's doing."   
"Yes, Dad." Garett nodded and then gave Sam a wry smile. "Watch out for him, will you?"   
"Oh, you know, I think the world can do without Gavin... ouh!" Sam received a violent punch in the shoulder.   
"The world _can't_ do without me and my glory, Samson! Don't listen to him, Garett, the constant transformations have obviously damaged his brain." Gavin snorted and Garett sighed.   
"I know you can't leave Uncle Sam and Uncle Owen alone together, but... well, I almost feel sorry for Rick."   
"Hey!", Sam and Gavin protested together and began to laugh in unison as Garett shook his head silently.   
"And people call you Crown Prince," he muttered and walked away. Meanwhile, Owen had thrown a bulgy backpack over his chain mail and stomped over to them.   
"I've got a bad feeling Jon's gonna be in trouble headfirst as soon as we leave."   
"Oh, and Garett isn't?" Sam asked skeptically; Owen shook his head.   
"Garett can take care of himself."   
Rick, who had inspected the dragon harness, waved at them. "Are you ready?"   
"Yes!" Gavin and Owen shouted in response; the enthusiasm of the former made Sam sigh.   
"Flying," he muttered. "As if I haven't done this enough in the last two weeks..."

~

As they landed for a late lunch in a secluded meadow, Rick suddenly asked, chewing on a sandwich:   
"Say, Dad, what are we gonna do about the throne room?"   
"What exactly do you mean?"   
"Well..." Rick said cautiously, glancing quickly at Gavin and Owen "after Val almost torched it..." Sam sighed while the other two raised one eyebrow each.   
"I had almost forgotten. Yeah, well... We'll inevitably redecorate."   
"What has the little witch done?" Owen asked amused and Rick gave a short report, whereupon Owen laughed heartily.   
"You know, your father prophesied long before his wedding that one day his witch daughter would burn down his throne room."   
"Yeah, yeah," Sam grumbled, "and Romy's comment was always _'this doesn't just happen'_. I see it."   
"But Rick's question is valid," said Gavin thoughtfully, moving the last bite of his sandwich around in his mouth. "A naked throne room is perhaps a little too spartan for a coronation."   
Sam shrugged. "If my loved ones at home can't think of anything useful... We have plenty of banners lying around from all the other festivities. Whitehill, Appleberry, Appleberry-Blackwood..."   
"Blackwood-Appleberry!", he was immediately triple corrected with a big grin.   
"I hate you all," Sam grumbled and made a face.  
"We know," Owen laughed.   
"Hmm. Country and family banners are all well and good, but your lords won't like that," remarked Gavin, again thoughtfully. If he hadn't gone on a rescue mission with Sam, maybe he should have sent him to Feather Springs as an interior decorator. Sam stretched.   
"I was thinking of reviving some old traditions. The fact that the flags of nobility flutter outside the castle wasn't exactly one of them, but when I think about it, I don't think it's so bad."   
"Great Mother, Sam, this is so outdated," Gavin sighed and rolled his eyes, Sam shrugged.   
"Do you have a better suggestion?"   
"I'll think about it."   
"What other traditions would you like?" Rick was curious.   
"The old knight tournaments..."   
"Oh, Great Mother, you've gone mad!" Gavin immediately protested.   
"Why? I think it's a good idea." Owen's eyes were already glowing with enthusiasm. "Just because you're _not_ a knight..."   
"Knight or no knight, who's a _real_ knight these days?"   
"Don't change the subject," Owen intervened and Sam said:   
"You'd have to update all the rules, of course, that's right, but Owen has a point. In the old days, it was common practice for noble men to become knights."   
"I like it," Rick cheeped in between.   
"Samsamsamsam, please! You got to make this happen!" Owen almost squealed with enthusiasm.   
"Hey, by the time this happens, you'll be too old to fight," Gavin grumbled.   
"Take that back! You're the one who's getting fat!" Promptly Owen threw himself half on Gavin and tried to pull up his shirt, which the prince of course didn't put up with - who wants to show his age belly?   
"Guys... guys!"   
"What?" But they paused and Sam sighed.   
"You know, Gavin, you ought to be ashamed. You're descended from one of the most famous knights in the world."   
"Not true!" Slightly offended, Gavin moved a bit away from Owen, sat down properly and tucked at his shirt.   
"Yes, it is. Henry Sandmoss has won the last three tournaments in a row."   
"Maybe, but he's not my ancestor. Stop it!" - He slapped away Owen's hand, which had crawled closer to tickle him.- "Henry himself never had children, he adopted the son of his older brother Geoffrey out of respect for him."   
"Ah, you see- respect. You lack respect for knights."   
"I can confirm that," muttered Owen, half serious, half amused. Gavin made an annoyed sound and stood up.   
"We're good to go, I think."   
"I have to..." Rick murmured and looked around a little uneasily - there was nothing to hide behind in the meadow to pee. He went one way, Gavin went the other, while Sam and Owen packed their bags.

"You have my vote," Owen remarked neutrally.   
"Thank you." When Sam looked up, he saw Owen looking at Gavin. "Maybe it would be better if you let Rick in on this. He might misunderstand your... hmm... bickering."   
"Is your son."   
"You're the one fucking his uncle."   
"I'm also fucking his father, by the way," Owen remarked dryly. This sent- truth or not- a blush of shame on Sam's face and he cleared his throat.   
"You're the one who had that horrible adolescent talk with the boys..."   
Owen sighed. "Just for Jon. At Garett, Gavin was brave and man enough to do it himself." For a moment they looked at each other and then Owen sighed again.   
"You're the best uncle in the world," Sam assured him, but Owen grimaced a little.   
"We'll talk about that later..."

~

The stars twinkled in a cloudless sky. The small fire crackled. Sam blinked; so as not to fall asleep sitting up, he asked:   
"Do you have any idea what's so special about the twins?"   
Gavin and Owen looked at each other and shrugged in unison.   
"Come on, I haven't seen those two in ten years."   
"Emily's a really pretty girl," Gavin said slowly. "Pretty and intelligent, and in a mixture that has flustered the otherwise rational Garett." Sam saw Rick raise an eyebrow, but neither of them commented. Gavin continued: "With a little more training, Emmett will have the stature of Owen in a few years, I guess. Quiet boy, has a knack for math and an interest in dragons." He paused and then looked questioningly at Owen, who nodded thoughtfully.   
"He told me he had made friends with a pair of dragons that lived in the territory of the Sapphires. I had offered to take him to the Dragon Academy, but Trent wasn't too keen on the idea." He shrugged. "They're kids, Sam. Teenagers. And I guess, to our non-magical eyes, they're perfectly normal."   
Sam nodded slowly.   
"Unfortunately, Mum didn't elaborate on why those two should be special," Rick said softly.   
"Ask her if you can."   
Rick nodded and Sam yawned extensively.   
"Go to sleep," Gavin said with a smile. Sam nodded and crawled into the tent he was sharing with Rick.  
  


A gentle but insistent shaking of the arm caused Sam to make a "Hmm?"   
"Dad," whispered Rick, "Dad, what are those noises?" The anxious undertone ensured that Sam was suddenly awake and listened. And then he didn't know whether to giggle or sigh because _of course_ it was Gavin and Owen and very obviously Owen hadn't spoken to Rick. He created a little spark of light and looked at Rick, who had frowned insecurely.   
"That," Sam said calmly, attributing the muffled grunt to Owen, "are Gavin and Owen." He preferred to renounce the title of _uncle_ on this subject. "They have sex."   
"What?" Rick squealed and immediately put his hand over his mouth. "But Aunt Ginny..." he whispered between his fingers.   
"She knows, Rick, she's okay with it. Political marriages are seldom truly fulfilling." Well, _this_ topic they had already discussed using Gerald as an example and so Rick nodded.   
"Okay," he muttered and grimaced as Gavin moaned:   
"Oh, yeah..."   
"And... um... how much longer is this going to take? It's pretty... annoying. Loud."   
"Well... how long does it take you to polish a sword?" Sam asked back, hardly hiding a smile.   
"Dad! Never ask questions like that ever again!" Rick hissed and immediately buried his face in his sleeping bag.   
"Just five times the time and you'll be on the safe side."   
"Dad."   
"Those two have a lot of energy."   
"Dad, please."   
"And before breakfast..."   
"Dad!"   
"- they will pick up where they left off before they fell asleep."   
"Daaaaaaad..."   
"Yeah?"   
"Stop, please. I don't want to know."   
"You asked where the noises were coming from."   
Rick made a pitiful sound and asked after a moment: "And this is really going on every night now?"   
"Probably."   
"Oh, Great Mother."   
"When you're in love, sex is a very nice thing," Sam said softly.   
"It has to be, otherwise you wouldn't have four children," Rick growled back.   
"You know, once when Val walked in and wanted to cuddle too, I seriously considered letting it go. Still Matt and Sammy exist."   
"Too much information!"   
Now Sam really giggled, but he obediently kept his mouth shut and extinguished the spark of light.   
"Sleep well, Junior."   
Rick just grumbled.

~

Sam stretched. It cracked first in his shoulders, then down his back three times and finally in his hip. The latter hurt and he suddenly felt quite old. Rick, who had already stowed their sleeping bags in the transport net, looked at him critically, but said nothing. Strangely yawning, Owen crawled out of the tent and stretched out in divinely given nudity towards the morning sun; his morning glory did the same.   
"Morning."   
"Good morning, Sir Owen the Steadfast," Sam greeted with a grin, out of the corner of his eye he saw Rick blushing.   
"I told you I'd give you a blow job, but no..." Gavin crawled out of the tent, but unlike Owen, he was dressed.   
"You still can," Owen said, enjoying the sunlight on his face.   
"No, now I want breakfast." Gavin flicked against Owen's best piece, got a yelp in response, and then turned to Rick. "Slept well?"   
"No. You were too loud," Rick explained with surprising dignity, albeit in bright red. Sam grinned and took a piece of cheese and a small roll from the luggage. Gavin shrugged.   
"I enjoy life."   
"You're married."   
"So what? Your aunt approved it. Not all couples are as happy as your parents, young man, and as stupid as I think your bride-hunting tradition is, you're actually very lucky."   
"You still couldn't have married Uncle Owen." Rick looked kind of unhappy.   
"No." Gavin sighed and glanced a little help-seeking at Sam, who shrugged slightly. "But maybe Aunt Ginny would have been happier with another man."   
Rick nodded weakly and Gavin put a hand on his shoulder.   
"We're friends, Rick, and that's more than many other couples in this kind of marriage can claim. She's happy because I'm happy with Owen, and I'm happy because I know that her bed won't be completely cold either. Okay?"   
Rick nodded again. "Okay." Still he wrapped his arms around himself and Sam put one arm around his shoulders.   
"Do you see the lesson in this?"   
"I'll never complain about finding my own bride again."   
That wasn't what Sam had meant, but he smiled anyway, especially because Owen laughed out loud at that remark.

~

The second day of the journey north Sam fought against icy winds until he gave up in the early evening, exhausted, and landed in a hollow where they made their little camp between a grove and some huge mossy rocks. Gavin shot both a squirrel ("We can't eat that, it's much too cute!" - they did anyway.) and some fat bird for dinner and grabbed after the same Rick to practice archery with him.   
Owen, who had relieved himself between the trees, came back and sat down next to Sam, who put his head on Owen's shoulder.   
"If I could, I'd fly instead of you," Owen said softly.  
"I know." And then Sam noticed that he hadn't even warned Owen and Gavin about Rick's dragon existence. Well, not now, now he was too tired for that. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm getting too old for this shit."   
Owen giggled. "I told you before, it's the next generation's turn."   
"You're probably right. But then again, would you want Rick and Garett to go off on their own?"   
"Great Mother, no." Owen sounded genuinely appalled. "No, okay... I'm really glad this is happening _now_ and not in ten years when we're _really_ too old for this shit."   
Sam hummed approvingly and then muttered: "I'm glad you're here."   
"Me too," Owen mumbled back, and then Sam felt his bearded cheek against his forehead. Owen's familiar smell of armor, sweat and oil rose to his nose and he sighed contentedly.   
He missed Romy, but this was almost as good.

"Uncle Owen?" At Rick's low voice, Sam noticed that he had fallen asleep, but since Owen didn't move, he kept his eyes closed.   
"Hmm?" Owen went, and his body vibrated under Sam's cheek.   
"Do you really only like men?" That was an amazingly direct question for Rick, but hey, the question went to Owen and not to Rick's dad- the advantage of being an uncle.   
"No, I like women, too. Why?"   
"Well... I always wondered why you never got married. Dad said it was okay to like men, but somehow that never occurred to me as an option. Well, as a reason for you not being married, you know?"   
Owen laughed softly. "Even if men were allowed to marry, Gavin wasn't an option."   
Gavin sighed somewhere in the background. "It's not like I haven't been engaged since I was a toddler."   
"Yes, but you could have married a woman, couldn't you?" Rick sounded a little insecure, but at the same time extremely curious.   
"I could have. But unfortunately, the only woman I like hasn't been an option either." Sam hadn't even been aware that there was a woman Owen liked, but he would eventually ask the question in private.   
"Hmm. That's too bad."   
"Why?"   
Rick's response took a moment. "I'd like a best friend like you," he finally said. "And if your son was half the man you are..." He left the sentence unfinished and Owen cleared his throat.   
"I wouldn't trade your father as a best friend for anything in the world. And I wish you will find a best friend like that someday. Although perhaps under more pleasant circumstances." His voice sounded strange and Sam had to force himself not to give himself away with a worried frown.   
"I'd still like to meet your children," Rick muttered regretfully.   
"Rick... you and Matt and Sammy and Garett and Jon... you're my boys." Owen's voice sounded hollow. "And Valerie is my little girl. If any guy looks at her the wrong way, I'm the first one to punch him in the face, okay?" Sam's heart tightened at the undertone in his voice, but Rick smiled audibly when he said:   
"And that's why we love you so much, Uncle Owen."   
"I love you, too. Now, put this old dragon to bed, would you?"   
"Dragon?", Sam muttered, raising his head on cue.   
"Yeah, that's you," Rick said, grinning at him as he blinked. "You drool on Uncle Owen's shoulder."   
"Hey..."   
Owen and Gavin chuckled and Sam sighed.   
"Good night."   
"Good night, Sam." Gavin said amusedly, Owen just nodded.   
They'd have to talk, Sam thought as he removed his boots from his feet. About dragons and family... he yawned...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to read as well part 5 of this series "The Beginning of the Fall", as it's not part of Sam's adventure.


	6. Fly, golden dragon, fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The good news: they find the kidnapper-dragon.  
> The bad news?

"Dragon!", Owen yelled over the flight wind and Sam turned his head until he found said dragon on his left a little further up.  
The dragon was quite small and grey-brown in colour and was obviously fluttering confused at the sight of them in a circle. Unclearly, Sam heard the other three discussing and then a shrill whistle rising and falling. The little dragon returned the whistle and slowly came closer. With difficulty Sam and the dragon flew side by side while Owen shouted a conversation, punctuated by shrill whistles. The little dragon replied broken in human language and after something that sounded like _Dragon Tooth_ , he made a playful roll in the air and shot away.  
"Sam! Land and then meeting," Owen shouted hoarse and scratchy, and Sam nodded before heading for a small barren meadow whose slope looked more or less even.

"I didn't understand half of what he said," Gavin remarked critically and stretched his legs.  
"I didn't even know that humans could learn the language of dragons." The fact surprised Sam a lot more. Owen shrugged.  
"Most sounds are impossible for us, but those whistles work once you get the trick. Most dragons are already incredibly flattered that you're trying it in the first place."  
"And what was that about the Dragon Tooth?" Rick chimed in.  
"There." Owen said, pointing to a narrow, high peak in the distance. Sam squinted.  
"Looks like there used to be two of them on the left."  
"Right. That was the Triplet, but the left two _collapsed_ sometime during Empire times? I have no idea. The dragons cleared the area and use it as a meeting place. Anyway..." Owen scratched his head and then shook it. "If we fly from here towards the Dragon Tooth, we should eventually come to a small lake. In one of the walls around it, the dark blue dragon has its lair."  
"Okay..." Sam nodded and stretched until it cracked.  
"Let's hope he has something to tell us," mumbled Gavin.  
"Uncle Owen..." Rick said softly, "Uncle Owen, don't you come from round here?" Surprised, Sam and Owen looked at him.  
"Right." A cautious smile crept across Owen's face. "But my home village lies further east, on the trade route to Owlgrove." He looked at the mountains. "Four or five hours' riding, I guess. Why?"  
"Oh, well..." Rick seemed insecure.  
"No, Rick, I don't want to visit them. Letter contact has been more than enough for the last 20 years."  
Rick nodded. Sam wondered if he was being polite or curious, but either way they didn't necessarily have the time.  
"Gavin, come on!" he shouted to the other prince who was standing not far away in the middle of the meadow, peeing.  
"There's a snake here," Gavin said, barely audible.  
"What's the matter, afraid it'll bite your precious piece?" Sam mocked good-naturedly and grinned at Owen; Rick turned pale at the thought.  
"Hmm." made Gavin indefinable. "Do you think it will go away if I impress it with it?"  
Owen could hardly suppress an amused snort. "To be impressed by your dick, it would have to be a newborn slow-worm."  
Rick's face got red patches and Sam giggled.  
"Don't be so mean, Owen."  
Outraged, Gavin turned around, said human piece hanging out of his unlaced trousers. "You call _that_ small?"  
"Average," Sam said, trying to be neutral.  
"Below average," Owen said, winking at Sam.  
"Rick?"  
"What?" squealed the boy.  
"Your opinion." Gavin had come closer, his hands still princely outraged, placed in his hips. "Come on, what do the young people of today say?"  
"How am I supposed to know what average is?" Rick asked back, a little shrill.  
"You're a knight-to-be... don't you ever look when you bathe or change?" Gavin asked with a raised eyebrow.  
"Uh... no?"  
Sam bit his lip; on one side it was childishly funny, on the other side he felt a little sorry for Rick.  
"Come on, say something and Gavin will leave you alone," Owen said, patting Rick on the back. Bright red Rick searched for words and finally blurted out:  
"Matt is bigger."  
"Marvelous," Gavin sighed and wrapped himself up again, Owen laughed and Sam's cheek muscles tensed because he didn't want to grin too much. "And because you started it," Gavin said, pricking Owen in the chest with his finger, "I'm going to get at least one blow job from you every day for the rest of the trip."  
"Okay," Owen said simply, leaning over to kiss Gavin intensely.  
"Ugh..." Rick made uncomfortable and turned away, Sam just shrugged in his direction.

~

The said lake was located in a valley basin and glittered in the light of the early afternoon sun. The high steep mountain walls had a lot of ledges and dark spots which might lead to possible caves, but from the air it was hard to see.  
"We should land," Gavin called out and Sam nodded, but Owen shouted:  
"But not on the ground. Get a ledge." That was easier said than done, because Sam's dragon form was just too big for most of them.  
"Dad! There on the right, a little further up," Rick was finally heard and Sam nodded again before he swung around a little. Suddenly he heard a flapping, the sound of stone on stone and into a deep growl Owen yelled:  
"Dragon! Sam!"  
Over his shoulder Sam caught a glimpse of a dark dragon, not much smaller than himself, who was about to attack.  
"Hang on," Gavin shrieked as Sam tilted to one side. The foreign claws slipped through the air without effect.  
Owen made the shrill whistles, but the other dragons didn't seem to care, he rumbled and hissed, clawing, tail slapping and snapping.  
Sam was an excellent knight, even considering his age and the reduced training times, he had killed seven dragons as a knight, but damn it, he had never fought in dragon form himself.  
Owen kept whistling and shouting, but the dark dragon didn't even consider listening to him, so Sam spat fire in his face as a warning.  
"Not a good idea! Not a fucking good idea!" Owen sounded unhappy, but broke off with a scream when the dragon also answered with fire.  
"Sam!" Gavin's voice was a shrill screech, he was definitely scared.  
"Dad! Dad, let us down..."  
Sam snorted a cloud of smoke, but Rick was not completely wrong, he had to watch out for the people on his back and the dark dragon didn't. He was probably only defending his lair.  
Again Owen blew his whistle and this time the dragon answered.  
"Get lost!" His voice was deep and scratchy, it sounded ancient and Sam shivered. "You have no place here!"  
"We're looking for our nephew and-" The three people screamed out as the dragon spat an angry burst of flame at them.  
"We just want to talk!" Gavin's voice was shrill and turned into a shrill scream as Sam had to drop himself again to escape the whipping tail. He flew away to make a big loop over the basin.  
"Maybe you should transform," Owen shouted thoughtfully. "So you're less of a danger."  
"And have him eat us all in one bite for dinner?" Gavin replied in horror.  
"Dad, let us down, you could take him-" Rick started, but was interrupted by Owen.  
"I don't think he'll be lured away. He is too eager to defend his lair. Perhaps he has more there than gold and treasure."  
"A female? Hatchlings? Eggs?" Gavin asked skeptically.  
"It's quite possible."  
"Okay, okay. Try to talk to him one last time. One last time! Then we land and Sam transforms, okay? Promise?"  
"Promise!" said Owen seriously and Sam nodded. He looked over his shoulder and turned around.

But the dark dragon didn't react to Owen's greeting whistles this time either, hissing at them instead.  
Sam nodded at him clearly and turned away, but he hadn't gone far yet when a shadow fell over him.  
"Saaaaaaaam...," Owen said calmly, though with a warning undertone. Sam heard Gavin say something, but he spoke too softly and probably only to Owen.  
And then all three cried out in horror as Sam instinctively threw himself to the side after feeling a draft coming from above. But the other dragon's claws caught him nevertheless - and most of all extremely unfavorably. They pierced through his scales almost effortlessly and tore his flesh from shoulder to wing joint. Over his own howl of pain he heard screams of people and roars of triumph. His right wing was useless and folded almost by itself as he turned towards the wall of rock, searching for support with his claws to avoid falling into the depths.  
"DAD!" His claws slid screeching across the stone, but he still heard his son yelling. "DAD!"  
"Rick! Sit down!" Gavin shouted, and at the same moment Owen yelled:  
"Hold on, damn it!" Whether it was going to Sam or Rick was unclear, but Sam finally found a hold. With his left wing outstretched he tried to find his balance and move towards the ledge that was a bit further down and to his right. He saw the world through a red mist and heard it rushing in his ears, the pain was the worst he had ever felt, but he had to protect his son and reach that damn ledge.  
"RICHARD!" Owen roared and Gavin screamed inarticulately. A wave of panic swept over Sam and he almost lost his grip, half slipping, half jumping towards the ledge.  
"Richard! No!" Gavin's voice flipped.  
One dragon roared and strangely enough a second answered, but by then Sam's right front leg gave way under the weight as he hit the ledge. Uncontrollably his tail whipped through the air and his head sank to the ground. He could still feel the transformation running trembling over his body, then the bloody mist turned black before his eyes.  
  


"Sam! Sam, can you hear me?" Gavin's voice was shrill enough to drown out the battle roar of two dragons. "Sam! Look at me!"  
Sam blinked.  
"Merciful Lady Winter!" Gavin almost sobbed with relief. He knelt directly in Sam's field of vision, covered in dust and had a scratch on his cheek.  
"Here," Owen said roughly, sounding as if his self-control was hanging by a thread. "Try to stop the bleeding."  
"Okay." Gavin looked over Sam and nodded. "Sam, stay with me, okay?"  
"Rick..." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Owen get up and pass Gavin, then the prince moved a little to one side. A good distance away, a dark blue and a golden dragon were engaged in a fierce battle.  
"Rick..." Sam whispered again and tears of pride blurred his vision while fear for his son cut off his air.  
"At least no one can say he's not your son," Owen noted dryly, looking for something in their luggage, from the sound of the noise.  
A tired smile curled Sam's lips and he closed his eyes.  
  


"Sam! Fucking stay awake! Stay with me, okay?" Gavin's voice was unpleasantly shrill, the stone under Sam's cheek unpleasantly hard and rough.  
Sam blinked. The golden dragon had grabbed the dark blue one with his snout on the tail.  
  


"...not awake."  
"I know. Press harder."  
"I'm trying!"  
"Sam? Stay awake. Talk to us," Owen told him.  
"Okay..." Sam mumbled. Something told him that Gavin and Owen were dealing with his injury, but strangely enough, everything was completely numb except for his head.  
A dragon howled out in pain.  
"Rick..."  
"Don't think about Rick now," Gavin said tense. "Stay awake."  
"Talk to us," Owen repeated his request.  
"The Great Mother, in her eternal wisdom, chose her seven most devoted priests and called them into the forest," Gavin said in a trembling voice.  
"There, in a clearing, she granted her priests a gift of divinity each," Sam murmured the holy litany. Passing Owen, he could see the golden dragon enveloped in flames and took a hissing breath.  
"The apple tree, nutritious and good, went to the priest Bartholomew," Gavin said sharply.  
The dragon's roar shrilled in Sam's ears.  
"The yew tree, hard and tough, was given to the priest Sullivan," Sam muttered, clutching onto the old text.  
"The hazel, the giver of life, was given to priest Joaquin," Gavin continued.  
A painful howling came from one of the dragons, but Owen blocked Sam's view.  
"The oak tree, full of permanence, went to priest Raban." Sam almost tripped over his tongue and then a stabbing pain ran down the back of his neck into the back of his head and he moaned choked.  
  


"...no. It has to work like this," Owen said hard.  
"He's losing too much blood!" Gavin protested.  
"I can see that!" Owen snapped back and Sam moaned softly.  
He wanted to tell them he wasn't dying, but strangely enough, he wasn't sure about that. Did Romy, in a wild panic, have both Darkmoore and Whitehill in a state of excitement? Probably. The thought made Sam smile.  
"Shit," Owen said at the moment. "No, Sam, look at me." Suddenly his voice trembled and Sam blinked strained. Tears shimmered in Owen's eyes, but then Sam's gaze slipped past Owen.  
Rick - stark naked - stood on the edge of the ledge and had grabbed a no less naked boy by the neck. It wasn't a friendly gesture and he dragged the boy forward; strangely enough, Rick's skin shimmered up in some areas, as if magic were whirring around him. As they approached, Sam was surprised for a moment, but then he smiled again. The childish expression had faded from Rick's face and been replaced by features that were more like a man's. He pushed the naked boy away, who squealed shrill, and knelt down beside Sam.  
"I'm here, father." His voice was also deeper, more mature.  
Sam would have liked to nod, but he couldn't; he couldn't find words either. Instead Rick reached out and touched Sam's magic necklace.  
"Stay with me."  
But the world exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Historical fun facts" for Penguin:
> 
> #7: The names of the seven priestesses and priests who initiated the holy bloodlines of the Old Blood are not given as first names. In the past, they were attached to the name of the priest in question (Priest John-Sullivan) as a kind of distinction, but this tradition was - like so many - suppressed by the Empire and not taken up again. Still in use, however, is the tradition of addressing the elected Cardinal of a country by the name of the First High Chosen: thus, the high priestess Mary of Threehills becomes Cardinal Joaquin.


	7. Puberty and midlife crisis have a lot in common

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And next to the problems mentioned in the chapter title, we get to know the other dragon and learn about a secret of the Sandmoss-family...

Sam couldn't have said what woke him up. The pain pounding in his body? The voices which just couldn't be understood? Or the whispering of his name?   
"Sam... hey..." He had never heard Owen so gently before and he blinked strained into dancing shadows and Owen's bearded face.   
"Hey..." Sam made a croaky sound and moaned softly as he had to cough and this sent another wave of pain through his bones.   
"Wait," Owen said quietly, "sit up. Slowly..." It spun in Sam's head but with Owen's help he made it into a sitting position. "You can lean carefully with your left shoulder."   
"Okay..." Sam nodded and blinked at his surroundings. He was in an almost round cave whose ceiling disappeared somewhere in the dark, because the only source of light was a small campfire around which four figures were sitting. Sam couldn't see an exit, but that didn't have to mean anything. Owen held out a waterskin to him and he gratefully accepted it.   
"How long?" he asked after a few sips.   
"Quite a while," Owen replied worried. "It's morning again." The redhead ran his fingers through his hair. "Rick used Romy's magic to heal the worst of it, but it still looks bad. Joey has-"   
"Joey?", Sam interrupted him irritated.   
"The dragon. I don't know his real name, his dragon name is unpronounceable. Emmett named him Joey."   
"Emmett? He's here?" Surprised Sam looked at the fire again- now it made sense that four people were sitting there.   
"Um... yes." Owen seemed a little confused and then sighed. "Okay, let's take it from the top. Rick defeated Joey in combat and then tried to use Romy's magic out of the necklace to heal you. That at least worked enough to get you here. Joey and Rick worked some dragon magic, but it still looks bad."   
"How bad?" Sam asked, feeling uneasy as the throbbing in his right shoulder got a little more insistent.   
"Be glad you're married to a healer," Owen said dryly, and Sam grimaced. "Anyway, Joey was sent out by witches"- Sam grimaced a little more- "to get the twins. Since they didn't stick to their agreement, he kept Emmett."   
"Witches, wonderful." Sam sighed, and Owen nodded grimly.   
"Witches. But we have experience with them, my friend."   
"More than I like to admit, true, but this time we must save not only ourselves, others as well."   
"Don't be so dramatic, okay?”   
Sam's incipient protest was thwarted by Owen's gaze.   
“First of all, _you_ can't fight right now anyway, and second, we have two battle-ready dragons. You know me and Gavin. Rick... well, you'll have to talk to Rick yourself, but he'd rather flatten the mountains than let you get hurt again, and Joey...", Owen cleared his throat tellingly, "would probably set the half world on fire if he could impress Emmett with it."   
Sam blinked irritated. "Oh. Um... but Emmett is not impressed?"   
Now Owen had to grin. "Joey's human form is about as impressive as Sammy, but other than that... you don't want that thing dangling between his legs to be shoved up your ass."   
Sam moaned, half amused, half in pain. "The only thing I want shoved up my ass right now is Romy's healing magic."   
Owen giggled, gently patted Sam's left shoulder and rose. "I'll tell Rick you're up."   
Sam nodded and rubbed his forehead. "I'm too old for this shit," he muttered and Owen smiled lovingly at him.   
"You're not fifty yet."   
"I don't have an heir of legal age. So I can't die here, although that actually sounded pretty convenient yesterday."   
"Never say that again!" Sternly Owen stared down at him. "Do you have _any_ idea how desperately we fought to stop you from dying?"   
The sharpness of his words astonished Sam, but before he could find a suitable response, Owen turned away and marched over to the fire.

After a short exchange of words Rick jumped up and stumbled in his haste towards Sam.   
"Dad! Dad, oh, Dad, I'm sorry! I'm sorry..." Before Sam could react, Rick had already nestled himself to his side and buried his face on his chest. Stunned, Sam patted his son on the back.   
"Hey, hey, take it easy. What are you sorry for?"   
Rick sobbed in a way Sam didn't know of him at all.   
"Hey, Rick..." Gently he stroked the boy's hair. "It's okay, whatever it is. I am fine."   
"O-okay..." Rick sniffed and finally looked at his father.   
"Are you all right?" Sam asked with a cautious smile and Rick nodded hurriedly.   
"Well," he mumbled and sniffed again. "No. Not everything is all right."   
Sam's smile widened. "Will you tell me about it?" There were worried lines on Rick's face, a harshness Sam had never seen before in the suddenly grown-up face. And there were scales shimmering in pale gold.   
"Joey almost killed you, Dad. If I could have transformed a little earlier, I would have..." With a helpless gesture Rick broke off and Sam shook his head.   
"There's no point in pondering lost causes. I'm alive. You defeated Joey, didn't you? And we found Emmett." Softly but firmly, he pushed Rick's chin up. "You did good, Rick. I'm proud of you."   
Rick blushed, which let the scales shine fiery, and nodded. "Thank you." Then he sniffed again, but this time it was probably a matter of principle, and Sam smiled. "Mum nearly went nuts. But she showed me how to use her magic better. And... well." Embarrassed, Rick scratched his head. "I better not repeat what she said."   
Sam suppressed a chuckle, because he could well imagine what Romy had to say and how that must have scared Rick. "As you wish." So he raised his hand to Rick's face and stroked the scales, which were as soft as the skin all around.   
"Joey says, if the next transformation is not quite so hectic, they will disappear," Rick murmured sheepishly and Sam nodded thoughtfully.   
"Tell me about Joey," he then asked curiously.   
"Joey is a shapeshifter with dragon origins," Rick said slowly, scratching a few scales on his left thumb. "His real name is..." The following was a collection of sounds impossible for humans to make. "Translated, it would be something like _'he who flies on summer nights under the stars to discover new valleys',_ but Emmett and Emily named him Joey for simplicity's sake. He's happy with that, too." Rick shrugged and looked over to the others by the fire.   
Sam nodded at him cheerfully.   
"He didn't really want to reveal the details of his deal with the witches, but they betrayed him somehow, so he kept part of the ... hmm ... booty. I got..." Again Rick paused and suddenly he seemed confused and overstrained, so Sam grabbed him by the arm.   
"Are you really all right?"   
"Yes. Yes, sort of..." Rick nodded and turned his face into a kind of smile. "I am a shapeshifter of human origin," he whispered. "I have broken the chains of my dragon form through anger and fear and that makes my dragon side... hard to handle."   
"But that's you, isn't it, or is it a second personality?" Sam cautiously asked, looking at Rick with his head tilted.   
"No, it's me." Rick lowered his head and scratched at the scales of his thumb again. "I speak the dragon language and instinctively know the rules and customs... Uncle Owen told me some of the things he learned at the Dragon Academy, and that scares me even more."   
"Why?" Sam asked simply; Rick's uneasiness made him nervous, because there was nothing he could do about it.   
"Dragons live in a construct of blood ties and dominance. You protected your cub and your humans, Joey protected his home and his human, I protected my family. The problem is we have no blood claim on Emmett, and Joey and I are basically equals, and he won't let Emmett go unless he surrenders himself ruthlessly to one of us."   
Sam couldn't fight in his present condition and could see where this was going, because suddenly Owen's remark made sense. "So that's why Owen spoke of two battle-ready dragons..."   
"When we move on, Joey will come with us, right..." Rick seemed anything but enthusiastic and Sam rubbed his forehead.   
"I would like to meet this wild young dragon."   
"I know," Rick replied with a shy smile. "But I must give you the dragon medicine and then you will sleep again."   
"What dragon medicine?" Sam asked skeptically and Rick grinned crookedly.   
"You don't want to know the details. But you're of the Old Blood, you're a dragon, and you're a witch's companion - so not only do you survive this stuff, it actually helps you."   
"How reassuring."   
"Yes, isn't it?" Light-footedly, Rick jumped up and hurried over to the fire, where he said something to one of the figures Sam couldn't identify as Gavin or Owen.   
A little later, Rick came back with a wooden cup which he held out to Sam.   
"Smells awful, probably tastes worse, but helps." His face was twisted from the brew and Sam sighed.   
"Thank you." When he put the cup to his lips, the smell stung his nose, but he drank it down bravely as fast as he could. Still it shook him - which was not good for his injury - and he choked. "Urgh. I've swallowed many witches' brews already, but this one tops them all."   
"I'm sorry," Rick said somewhat miserably, but his voice was strangely distorted. "Lie down, Dad. You need to sleep..."   
"Hmm?", Sam did, because his head started spinning again.   
"Sleep, Dad, sleep..."

~

Sometime in the early afternoon, Owen helped Sam up and into a small side passage of the cave where a small trickle of fresh water flowed. Sam relieved himself, washed and felt much better afterwards. The pain had ebbed away, so it felt like sore muscles, with emphasis on the right shoulder and back.

"Wait, I thought Shadow Dancer was the one with the egg," Emmett said in confusion as Sam and Owen joined them around the campfire. Rick tapped his foot strangely on the ground, and Gavin replied:   
"Yes, Shadow Dancer has an egg, but right now it's about Moonwing."   
"Oh. Right."  
"Joey is telling some of the tangled dragon stories," Owen whispered to Sam as they sat down between Rick and Emmett. "I can't keep up after three sentences, but Gavin can follow somehow..."   
Sam just nodded.   
"...so Greenleaf pursued while Sunwing licked her wounds and Three-Claw summoned the others. Not everyone came to the meeting, though, as Shadow Dancer, Five-Horn and Bloodstain had to look after their eggs and Moonwing..." The many names within a short time confused Sam a bit, but Gavin nodded in agreement and Rick's feet tapping was probably something like applause.   
After a moment Emmett gave up and turned his attention to Sam. "Uncle Sam," he said reluctantly, and Sam nodded with a smile. The boy was broadly built and had a tangle of chestnut hair on his head; he seemed freshly shaved, so Gavin must have brought some shaving equipment, the vain fop.   
"How are you?" Emmett asked, and Sam shrugged his left shoulder.   
"I've been better. But I've been worse too."   
"And as usual, you're playing the hero," Owen growled benignly and handed him a provision sack of bread and hard sausage. Sam grinned wryly.   
"I became a knight for this, Owen."   
Owen rolled his eyes and Emmett smiled shyly.   
"Thanks for not ignoring Mum's call for help. I don't know exactly what happened between you two back then, but... thank you. Joey's not evil or anything, but I don't know what the witches are doing to Emily now." Emmett obviously didn't like the idea. Sam nodded and Owen said:   
"We'll have to stay another day, I guess, and then we'll be on our way. If the witches wanted you both, they might come looking for you and Joey."   
"I'm sure they do," Joey suddenly jumped in. "But they don't know where my hoard is." The voice sounded so old and wise, but the human body was actually rather unimpressive. With a slightly frown, Sam stared at the boy, who looked like he was at most Matt's age. Messy blue-black curls hung down into his forehead, his eyes staring turquoise blue out of his sunburned face. His upper body was naked and the pants he was wearing looked as if they actually belonged to Gavin.   
"What do the witches want with the twins?" Sam asked seriously and Joey shrugged.   
"They gave me a location, a description, a name. That's it. That's all I wanted to know. We make deals now and then, Goldwing, but never with unnecessary detail."   
A little surprised at the new naming, Sam raised an eyebrow, but Joey interpreted it differently, as he explained:   
"The witches here are welcome nowhere else, and they fight the religious zealots who keep coming up the mountains."   
Gavin sighed. "That's a good point, but it doesn't help us."   
"And besides, we've discussed all this before," Owen sighed as well and gave Sam an apologetic look.   
"There's nothing wrong with going over certain things again," Gavin replied with a frown.   
"But it doesn't help us. I've already told you, the easiest way is to go to the meeting point and continue from there."   
The resulting discussion between Gavin and Owen seemed to have been held at least once before and Rick gave a soft sigh.   
"Hey, Dad..."   
"Hmm?"   
"Do something. The two of them were bitching about it half the night. And that's worse than when they have loud sex."   
Sam suppressed a snort and gave a wry look to Rick, who shrugged helplessly.   
"I'm serious. Whatever's the reason, but this"- he made a curt gesture- "it's not."   
It was obvious, so Sam nodded thoughtfully. Emmett made a face as if he'd rather be somewhere else, and Joey frowned sullenly.   
"You're not in charge!" Gavin hissed, and jumped up.   
"Oh, so just because we're supposedly still on Threehills territory, you're calling the shots?" Owen growled back and got up on his feet too.   
"Guys," Sam sighed slightly overstated. "We don't even have to discuss this. The _King_ calls the shots and that's it."   
In reply, Gavin made a girlishly indignant sound and stomped off, Owen sighed crestfallen and went the other direction.   
"Dad...?"   
Sam sighed again, this time for real; it was a very inopportune time for fundamental relationship discussions. "Yeah, yeah... I'll save the world...", he murmured and stood up a little awkwardly before he hesitantly looked in one direction and then the other. Finally he followed Owen first, who had stepped behind a huge leather curtain.

Said curtain hid a huge passage leading to the entrance of the cave, where Owen now sat on a stone and stared into the void.   
"May I know why there's such a bad atmosphere in there?"   
Owen gave a sigh. "Oh, maybe it's because in the middle of sex Gavin started talking about his chivalrous lover? Or is it because I feel like I'm only interesting when nothing exciting is happening?"   
"Okay..." Sam began, but Owen already went on:   
"Not to mention the problems we actually left at home."   
"Okay. Hold that thought, I'll have a word with Gavin."   
"Hmph," Owen did, shrugging almost indifferently.   
Sam suppressed a sigh and went back to the cave where the three boys were sitting tense around the fire, more or less probing each other.

He found Gavin in another cave, the entrance to which was almost completely blocked by a huge boulder and which probably served as a treasure chamber, for the prince was sitting on a pile of gold coins. His chin propped up in his hands, his elbows on his knees, he looked like a picture of misery.   
"Hey..."   
"Hmm." Gavin made dull.   
"May I ask what the problem is?" Sam asked nicely and sat down carefully on the coin pile- it was much more uncomfortable than it looked.   
"Didn't Owen already tell you?" Gavin muttered vaguely.   
"I'd like to hear it from you." While Sam waited for an answer, he looked at the cave. Strange crystals on the walls gave off a faint light which revealed shapeless piles of gems, metal objects, swords and bones.   
"Edwin is the problem," Gavin finally said softly.   
"The young knight?"   
"Hmm. It's not the first time I've slept with someone else, Owen has allowed me, but... hmm. I was going to ask Owen if maybe we could try a threesome..."   
"And why do you think of Edwin during sex with Owen?"   
Gavin took an audible breath, but didn't say anything, and Sam looked at him and waited. With a strange expression on his face, Gavin took some coins and played with them.   
"When Owen rescued me from the dragon, all those years ago, we had our first sex on such a pile of coins afterwards. It was kind of nostalgic." The corners of his mouth twitched and Sam kept quiet. "We're getting old, Sam, and I'm not exactly aging gracefully."   
Now Sam raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"   
In reply, Gavin patted himself on the belly and then ran his fingers through his hair, which thinned and showed visible receding hairline. "My eyes are getting worse, so soon I won't even be usable as an archer."   
"Wait," Sam said, not quite sure if he could follow Gavin's train of thought. "So you're sleeping with Edwin because it makes you feel, um... younger?"   
Gavin's face was answer enough.   
"It's silly, I hope you know. The boy's probably just doing it because you're the crown prince, not because you're Gavin."   
Gavin sighed and made a face, obviously aware of it. "You sound a little pretentious."   
"Excuse me, but my best friend is sitting over there like a mope because he feels like nothing next to you since decades, and now you're ruining your relationship because of a barely adult knight?"   
"That's easy for you to say!" Suddenly, anger flared up in Gavin. "You can do anything, have anything, are anything! I'm a failure as a husband and a father, I'll be a failure as a king, and apparently I'm failing even as a lover! Marvelous!"   
"If all my life were sunshine, I wouldn't be here!" Sam interrupted him with a frown. The problem of Gavin and Owen was by no means a simple relationship thing, but something much bigger. "You're not a failure," he said more gently.   
"I feel like one," Gavin muttered, burying his face in his hands. "I feel like there's nothing in my life that makes me truly happy."   
Sam grimaced. "That hurts a lot, even just substitutionary, you know?"   
The answer was a choked sound.

They remained silent for a while and Sam thought about the problem. Finally he said:   
"Why don't you use the time out here to step mentally aside and think about things a little differently?"   
"Hmm?" Gavin made questioning.   
"I mean, Garett's coming of age this year. Why don't you just give up your claim to the throne? No one can release you from your fatherly duties for the rest of your life, but with Ginny, it's all going well, isn't it?"   
Gavin nodded.   
"Then take Owen and travel with him through the Eastern Kingdoms for a while, do as you please." Sam paused. "Provided you want to work out the crack in your relationship."   
For an uncomfortably long moment, Gavin seemed indecisive, then nodded. "Yes, I want." He sighed and gave Sam an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry. Owen makes me very happy."   
"You forget that once in a while, don't you?" Sam smiled back sympathetically, and Gavin nodded. "Good. Then I'll go and hear what Owen has to complain about." Sam stood up and winked at Gavin. "You're a handsome man, Gavin, and you'll grow old _together_ , don't forget."

The mood at the campfire was even more tense than before and Sam could already sense the next source of trouble there, but first he joined Owen out in the fresh air again. He sat down next to him on the boulder and then nudged Owen lightly with his healthy shoulder.   
"Is this Edwin really your biggest problem?"   
Owen snorted. "Not really."   
Again Sam kept silent to encourage further conversation, and Owen finally sighed.   
"The biggest problem is that Gavin has a problem with himself. I don't know how to _help_ him with it, if I _can_ help him with it, if I'm even _allowed_ to."   
"Well, that last question should be unnecessary in a good relationship," Sam remarked matter-of-factly.   
"Probably." Owen admitted and rubbed his neck. "But it's not like we have a publicly approved relationship. He has a wife and-" abruptly, Owen broke off and Sam raised an eyebrow.   
"... yes?"  
Owen stood up and stepped dangerously close to the edge. "Rick didn't have to wish to meet a son of mine. He already did."   
"He did?" Sam looked at the back of Owen's head in irritation, as if the staring was enough to make him turn around.   
"Yes," Owen said softly, and actually half turned. "Jon."   
Sam opened his mouth in amazement. _Jon._ He swallowed hard, but still only came out with a "Great Mother!" Owen lifted the corner of his mouth and turned back towards the valley in front of him.   
"I don't know whose idea it was, but after Ginny's miscarriage, Gavin practically gave up. All that aphrodisiac and stress didn't do him any good and... well." He sounded a little lost, but Sam was too surprised to really react. "Ginny's the woman I _like_." Owen raised his fingers to indicate the quotation marks. "I don't even know if she's aware of it, but it wouldn't change anything. We sleep with each other now and then, and for a while she talked about having another baby, but..." Owen's voice got lost and Sam licked his lips.   
Did it make any difference? Politically, if anyone knew about it, but for him personally? No.   
"Why..." He cleared his throat. "Why are you telling me now? I mean, thank you for your trust, but-"   
"Jon is one of the constant points of contention between Gavin and me."   
"Oh. I see." Sam stood up and joined Owen.   
"And Rick knows. His dragon side threatened to kill me if Gavin wouldn't know, and then made a nice threat so I would tell you."   
"How does he know?" Sam wanted to know irritated, and Owen looked at him with a raised brow.   
"Dragons have a sense of blood ties, Sam. By the way, I'd like to know why you didn't tell us about his dragon form."   
"Um..." Embarrassed, Sam rubbed his neck. "I meant to, really... It just hadn't been the right moment before without it sounding like a terrible disease, you know?"   
A tired smile played around Owen's lips and he nodded. "It's okay. Every family has its secrets."   
Sam laughed softly and shook his head with a smile. "Garett and Jon both have two fathers, Owen. All it takes to see this is ten minutes outside the formal setting. You're just hiding it extremely well behind the title of an uncle."   
"Do you think so?"   
Sam nodded thoughtfully. "The longer I think about it, the better it fits together. The three of you fit together."   
"Thank you, Sam."   
"You're welcome. I wish you two would make up. Gavin wants it."   
"That's good. I don't want to lose him just because he can't deal with himself right now."   
"Then you two should talk."   
"I know." Owen nodded and gave Sam a smile that seemed far more sincere.

For a moment they stood silently side by side, then Owen gave a strange sigh and turned away. Together they returned to the cave where aggression was hanging in the air. Rick and Joey growled at each other in a suppressed manner, Emmett had retreated to a wall. Sam opened his mouth to calm them down, but Owen held him back with a curt gesture.   
"Boys!" he barked in his instructor's voice with which he called the squires of Seven Hills to order - even Sam flinched slightly. "Take your clothes off and get out! Now!"   
Joey was out of his borrowed pants faster than Sam could see, and a tremor ran over Rick, who peeled himself from his clothes with shaky hands.   
Irritated, Sam looked at Owen.   
"Unlike you, shapeshifters don't transform with everything they wear on their bodies," Owen explained quietly, but the words only half reached Sam, as Joey stomped past him. The rescaling of the large dragon body to the human body had apparently worked only moderately for a certain body part, and Sam suddenly understood very well that Emmett found Joey's advances rather dubious.   
Rick disappeared with a gloomy face behind the leather curtain and seconds later a golden tail whipped it aside, at the same time two dragons roared at each other furiously.   
"Uncle Owen?"   
"Hmm?"   
Emmett seemed intimidated. "Will they fight all the time now?"   
"What do you mean, _all the time_?" Sam asked worried in between.   
Owen sighed and shrugged. "I suppose so. I don't know how old Joey is, but Rick is not fully grown. The two of them will keep fighting their ranking until they can accept the result permanently."   
"That sounds like an exciting journey," Sam muttered and rubbed his forehead with a sigh.   
"Well, Rick's dragon side has a bit of an aggression problem as it seems," Owen said with forced humor, but Sam followed Owen's gaze to Emmett, who looked extremely unhappy.   
A pubescent aggressive young dragon was probably not the only problem. If Joey considered Rick a competitor for Emmett...   
Sam sighed and Owen nodded tense.   
Gavin's midlife crisis was for sure the smaller of two problems, and with the bloodcurdling roar from outside, both literally and figuratively.


	8. Some Dragons do give a Shit about outdated gender-matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, Rick had to find out one day...

Whatever Joey and Rick gave into their exciting dragon brew, however carefully Sam directed magic from Romy's necklace into his shoulder - he was in pain, his muscles were hard and cramped, hardly moving the joint. Still, he had insisted that they set off again; Owen wasn't very pleased, but just because they had found one of the twins didn't mean their search was over. Owen's estimated day of rest came up more or less by itself, though, because Rick- who suddenly found himself with five people and luggage on his back - had to end the day exhausted in the early afternoon. But that didn't stop him from going after Joey a few hours later, roaring, hissing and spitting fire.

Sam stood on the ledge in front of the cave they had chosen as a resting place and watched them. Deadly elegance he could admire- and he did- but he couldn't push aside that the sparkling golden dragon up there was his son. Rick was a born shape-shifter and had a wing pattern, blood-red spots that somehow seemed to remind Sam of something, but he just couldn't figure it out.

Someone sighed beside him and he tore his gaze away from the dragons.   
"Hey," he said to Emmett. Emmett had frowned anxiously.   
"Do you think we can find Emily before they hurt her?"   
"They wanted both of you, and I'm sure there's a reason for that." Sam shrugged slightly so it didn't hurt, but still was visible. "What's so special about you?" he asked and Emmett raised his eyebrows.   
"What do you mean?"   
"Remember Romy?"   
"Not really." Emmett reluctantly admitted, but anything else would've surprised Sam. Sarah-Jane and Trent had not allowed their children to visit Threehills at the same time as Sam and his family. "But I know she is a witch."   
Sam nodded. "She said there was something special about you two, and someone with enough knowledge of blood magic could do something with it."   
Emmett turned pale. "Oh."   
Sam stared at his nephew who seemed to be thinking hard.   
"There are rumors," the boy finally said softly. "About our real parents." He wrapped his arms around himself and gave Sam a quick glance. "It is rumored that our father is a wizard, the brother of another lord."   
"But you don't have magic, do you?" Sam slowly wanted to know. Unlike witches, wizards and sorceresses did not pass on their talents. Fittingly, Emmett shook his head.   
"Not that I know of. We were checked up on this two or three years ago, but..." He shrugged. "I don't know what's so special about us."   
Sam nodded and looked back at Rick and Joey. "What a shitty situation."   
Emmett made an agreeing sound and then sat down. "The two in there are busy too," he said with a subliminal sigh, and Sam nodded silently before he sat down next to his nephew.

They watched the never-ending dragon fight for a while, then out of sheer curiosity, Sam asked: "Do you like Joey?"   
"Not the way he'd like me to." Emmett muttered somewhat embarrassed. "I mean, he was a lot nicer to us than he needed to be, but... um... dragons are pretty possessive and... well, all things considered, I prefer humans."   
Sam smiled. "What if he were a human boy?"   
Now Emmett shrugged. "Without that awful possessiveness and without"- he took a strangely distraught breath- "that monster between his legs... maybe you could try it." The frank honesty without the all-consuming shame like Rick's was almost refreshing, and Sam gave him a fine smile.   
Emmett rubbed his neck, blushing slightly. "There's this girl back home," he started, "Melissa... I promised Emily I'd go out with her. Well, that I'd ask her out. My dad's not gonna be totally happy about it, but I don't have to marry her, so..."   
"Do you even like girls?" Sam asked carefully in between and got a hasty nod.   
"More than boys, to be honest. I like Melissa." Whatever else he wanted to say was interrupted when Joey landed on the plateau and took on human form. He grinned winningly at Emmett and stretched in a pretentious pose, but Emmett ducked his head a little. The shapeshifter strutted into the cave in naked splendor and then Rick, who had obviously lost the current fight, landed. He stretched and straightened himself much less pretentiously, but rather with pain. Sam heard it crack and noticed - as fathers do - that the boy definitely needed more and above all nutritious food; the new rough edges on the slender body were a bit too sharp. Emmett's look, however, showed that he saw it differently, and he actually blushed when Rick threw an apologetic smile in their direction.

~

"Why are you making such a drama out of it?", Sam wanted to know curious and tried to sound neutral, after listening to the boys whining about the tent distribution. He didn't get a real answer, but that was not necessary either. Sometime last night Joey had noticed Emmett's looks at Rick and the drama now took its course.   
Emmett wanted to sleep in the tent with Rick and Sam, Joey didn't want to sleep without his human prey, Rick certainly didn't want to share a tent with Joey and especially not with Gavin and Owen, because- the Great Mother may prevent it- then he might see things he would rather not see.   
"Well," Owen said, for whom the whole thing had become too much to bear. "Option one: the three princes share a tent and the three of us share the second. Option two: one tent for the kids, the other for the old men."   
"But Uncle Owen," Emmett started right off, but was drowned out by Joey, who said:   
"Both sounds good."   
Rick made a face. "Option one."   
"Aren't we even being asked here?" Gavin asked with a raised eyebrow and poked Sam with his elbow for support.   
"I don't care. As long as I-" Another nudge to the ribs quickly silenced Sam.   
"Gavin, the boys have been fighting about the tents for almost an hour. We only have two," Owen returned in annoyance.   
"Rick could sleep outside as a dragon," Joey suggested pointedly.   
"No way. I'll carry you all and-"   
"Silence!" Owen barked and they all flinched. "That's enough! Rick, Emmett, Joey there. Gavin, Sam, me there. No more discussion!" When it remained quiet, Owen sighed half annoyed, half relieved.   
"What are we gonna do when we find Emily?" Sam then wanted to know innocently and saw over Owen's shoulder Gavin shaking his head.   
"Sam." Owen growled warningly.   
"I'm just asking."   
"Shut the fuck up."

~

"Do you think the three of them are going to start a discussion like yesterday before going to sleep?" Sam wanted to know as he wandered through the forest next to Owen to collect wood for a fire.   
"Let them. But I'm not going to join in the discussion," Owen replied calmly and gave Sam a critical look. "You shouldn't be carrying heavy things, you know?"   
"Well, a little firewood isn't the problem right now. And I'II have a knight in shining armor if necessary." Sam smiled at Owen, who was licking his lips.   
"Is this the princess talking?"   
"Not really. Why?"   
"I'm in the mood for a little apple..."   
Sam laughed softly. "You're insatiable. How many times have you tasted Gavin today?"   
"I've bet with him and lost."   
"Oh, the great Sir Owen loses a bet!" Sam mocked and Owen swung a dry twig in his direction.   
"Shut up! Unless you give me a dirty moan."   
"Ah, I see the trouble..." Sam giggled and dodged another hit. "Gavin's leaving you with nothing."   
Owen stuck his tongue out and after a long minute's silence remarked: "I'd like to sleep in the middle tonight..."   
"Owen..."   
"Come on. Try something new."   
"Owen. No."   
"Sorry." It certainly wouldn't stop Owen and Gavin from pursuing their activities despite Sam's presence, but Sam would definitely not get involved. Him and Owen had something special.

A short time later they made their way back and not far from the camp Owen suddenly stopped.   
"What now?" Sam wanted to know with irritation, but then sighed when he saw Owen's mischievous grin.   
"All I want is a kiss and I'll do the rest myself."   
"Gavin's not gonna be too pleased..."   
"Does he have to know?"   
Smiling, Sam shook his head and dropped the collected firewood, Owen threw his share aside as well. Two seconds later, Owen was already kissing him greedily and Sam muttered:   
"Take it easy..."   
"You taste good," Owen mumbled back, sucking on Sam's lower lip.   
"Mmm," Sam said, wondering briefly what a member of the Oakshield family tasted like - they smelled of forest and damp earth. However, Owen's hands, which worked their way into Sam's pants at an eerie speed, interrupted this train of thought.   
"I thought... you wanted... yourself..." Sam muttered strained between kisses, adding a "mmhhh" as Owen gently embraced his balls.   
"In a moment," Owen gave back, kneading Sam's bottom with his other hand and then nibbling his earlobe.   
"Mmmhh... O-Owen, stop it, now isn't the haaaaa..."   
"Shut up, I know what you li-oh." Owen froze, and in such a way that Sam turned around in a hurry.   
Rick stood there between the trees, frowning and pressing his lips together. "How many more members of my family are you fucking, Owen?" he wanted to know, the voice cold.   
"Rick..." Owen started off completely taken by surprise, but Rick was in dragon mode and Sam could almost feel the aggression seething inside him.   
"My mum? My sister?"   
"Richard!" Sam said sharply, and with a jerk, Rick turned around and hurried away. Fixing his pants and the half-hard contents of them, Sam rushed after him.   
"Rick!"   
No response.   
"Richard, wait!"   
Rick, in an angry gesture, wiped a twig out of his path that almost hit Sam right in the face.   
"Richard Alexander Appleberry!"   
It worked, and Rick stopped dead in his tracks.   
Sam swallowed and searched for words for a moment while looking at his son's back. "You have no reason to react like that," he finally said.   
"Mum-"   
"Your mother knows about this," he said hurriedly, sharper than he intended. "You've seen the ring I'm wearing, right? If she didn't know, there'd be nothing left to hang on to."   
Rick's shoulders shook.   
"Your mum-"   
"How _dare_ you?"   
"Let me finish!" Sam didn't want Rick to find out about it in such an unfortunate way. In fact, he never should have known. And for sure, Sam didn't want to snarl at him like that, but showing weakness to Dragon-Rick in that moment wasn't wise either.   
"The affair of Owen and I goes back further than your mum and I. She knew and nodded it through, and when we got married, that was history. Your mum is _everything_ to me, you know, but when Roseanne died, it wasn't enough. I have responsibility for two kingdoms, I'm a father, brother, husband... and I didn't know what to do with all the chaos in my head, all the feelings, because you kids and your mum _needed_ me. Your mum suggested I go to Owen, to find a place of retreat at his place... or with him. I need Owen like you used to need your dragon lair in the library."   
Rick's ears turned red at the mention of it.   
"I'd die for you and your mum, Rick," Sam said more softly.   
"And not for Owen?" Rick asked quietly and a little bitter.   
"Your mum would resent me for that and you know her temper tantrums towards me."   
Rick didn't say anything else about that. He swayed like a sapling in the wind for a moment, then walked away without a word.   
Sam sighed and his shoulders slumped down - which hurt, but Rick's reaction was much more painful.   
"He'll understand," Owen said very quietly from the background and Sam turned halfway around to him. "Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday he will."

~

To let Rick's anger cool down a bit before he let the rest out, Owen grabbed Joey to _'hunt in human style'_ while Rick started a wrestling match _'in human style'_ with Emmett. Sam and Gavin sat in the shade of the forest and watched the boys, silently and thoughtfully, until Gavin quietly said:   
"You know, Sam, Rick's reaction is partly your own fault."   
"What do you mean?" Sam wanted to know irritated.   
"Well... just look at what you're stuffing his head with," Gavin returned and gave Sam a wry look before looking back at the boys. "All that knight stuff, virtues, high values..."   
"Yeah, so?" Sam couldn't quite follow Gavin.   
"You have pretty high expectations of yourself and you pass them on to Rick," Gavin said slowly, twisting his wedding ring in a strange gesture. "And Rick is Rick and he's too young to handle it properly."   
Sam looked at him in amazement.   
"I know how that feels," Gavin went on. "When you can't live up to expectations." Another wry sidelong glance. "You're a formidable knight, no question, and you'll make a damn fine king, but Sam... the time for knight-kings is over."   
"I'm aware of that," Sam said slowly, feeling he had to say something.   
Gavin laughed softly. "And yet you dream of knightly tournaments and suchlike. Let me guess, Alexander the Red is your great role model."   
Sam could hardly deny it, so he made a somewhat helpless gesture and Gavin shook his head.   
"He was a good king and an outstanding knight for all we know, but if we are to believe the story, he died a virgin. And, furthermore, from today's perspective, he was quite homophobic."   
"Yeah, yeah... I'm married, I have children, and I'm having an affair with my best friend." Sam rolled his eyes. "But you said it yourself: he was an outstanding knight and king, and you can-"   
"I repeat myself: the days of the virtuous knight-kings are _over_. For a damn long time. So stop trying to make your son into one," Gavin interrupted him, earnestly but patiently. "Neither you nor Rick are Alexander. Merciful Lady Winter, your son can be thankful his name isn't Alexander."   
"That was Romy's decision," Sam mumbled, slowly realizing what Gavin meant. "But hey, I got a Matthew."   
Gavin sighed. "The last Hazel... you really do have a flair for the dramatic. I hope you at least understand what I'm getting at."   
"I think I do. Yeah."   
"Good."

_They had a fight. Again._   
_Romy's second pregnancy demanded a lot from her, because she wanted to keep the child for Whitehill free of magic. With a witch's daughter, Sam and Romy were under a lot of pressure, they both knew it. And as a result, there were frequent outbursts._   
_Until one night, Sam left. He climbed up one of the towers, spread his wings and flew to Seven Hills. He stayed away from home for four weeks._   
_"If you dare go a second time, don't bother coming back," was all Romy said. Cold and proud, one hand protectingly on her belly._   
_"If you make me go a second time, I won't want to come back," Sam returned. Cold and proud._   
_They stared at each other until Romy flinched because the baby moved. And then she came over to him, took his hand and laid it on her belly; with an iron grip, because Sam remembered only too vividly the moment he almost-_   
_"Richard," she said softly and he felt the fine nudge._   
_"Okay," was all he could say before he got down on his knees and leaned his forehead against her belly to greet his son._

"Sam?"   
"Hmm?" He looked up and Gavin glanced at him embarrassed.   
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."   
"Oh, no. It's okay. I think it was necessary." He nodded in haste; he had quite a lot to think about for the night.   
"Okay..." Gavin also nodded and then remarked amusedly: "Looks like they're having fun."   
Rick was just holding out a hand to Emmett, laughing, to help him get up.   
"It's good, isn't it? As soon as we face the witches, we'll all have very little to laugh about," Sam returned and grinned as Emmett in turn sent Rick to the ground. "He's not getting any knight training, is he?"   
"No, but he trains with the guards, so he can fight. However..." Gavin didn't finish the set and Sam also lost the grin, as the wrestling on the ground was just turning into a shy kiss.   
For a moment it looked like Emmett's approach would bear fruit, but then Rick pushed him away violently. The first words of the flaring up disagreement didn't reach Sam, only an angry:   
"I don't want to kiss boys! Am I just surrounded by perverts here?" Rick picked himself up and ran away. Sam was almost glad he didn't transform and disappeared into the sky.   
"That hurts," Gavin mumbled, and stood up to offer a few words of comfort to Emmett, who was suddenly standing rather lost in the meadow.   
Sam, however, rubbed his face and sighed. Gavin was right in every of the aspects.


	9. Hugs do good, but don't solve problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some hugs, some apologies- and another fight...

"Sam, you still awake?"   
"Hmm," Sam made affirmative. Gavin's words were still lingering in his thoughts.   
"I'm worried about Rick." Owen's quiet mumbling actually sounded worried, so Sam turned his head- he could feel the movement halfway down his back. From the other tent, a particularly loud snore came from Joey when Sam asked:   
"What are you worried about? I mean, what's going through the mind of a dragon expert that I'm totally missing as a father?"   
Owen turned audibly around and Gavin made an incomprehensible protesting sound before continuing to snore softly. "Have you noticed that his dragon form is changing?"   
"Um..." Sam frowned, and because conversations in pitch darkness weren't exactly comfortable for him, he created a small spark of light; Owen blinked blinded.   
"No?"   
"I'm almost certain I wondered earlier if those lumps on his head had been there before..."   
"They are horns. Or they will be soon," Owen said seriously, then added: "He's not fully grown yet."   
"And why do you say that in a tone like it's a disaster?" Sam asked, while a fine oppressive feeling crept into his chest.   
"Because..." Owen made a face. "Great Mother, where shall I begin?"   
"With the basics, please. _I_ haven't spent the last twenty years at the Dragon Academy."   
Owen sighed approvingly. "The puberty of dragons or shape-shifters and humans is quite different. Almost opposites."   
"Which means?"   
"Well... for human children, it begins with sexual maturity. After that, mental and physical maturity can take up to ten years," Owen said slowly. "Dragons and dragon-born shapeshifters are... well... different. When a dragon is fully grown, the mental maturity begins. Who am I, what can I do, which rank do I hold, do I have to accept it. The exploration of one's own strengths is accompanied by a lot of aggression, which is directed by parents or other adults. This phase lasts about two years and ends when sexual maturity occurs and the parents throw the child out of the lair. The young dragon spends a few months alone to learn how to separate aggression and sexuality and then returns or finds a new home."   
"I think I can follow along." Sam nodded and smiled encouragingly at Owen, who sighed.   
"Rick is human-born, but his dragon form is too strong. That you've been suppressing it for years has only made it worse."   
Sam made a face. "He could have taken off his protective amulet earlier, but he didn't want to."   
"That's not the point, Sam. As you said yourself, I spent a great deal of time at the Dragon Academy. So why has it never occurred to you to at least let _me_ in on the secret? It wasn't just about you, but more importantly, about your son."   
So much parenting criticism in one day was painful, and Sam grimaced even more. But before he could find any kind of response, Owen said:   
"Rick's dragon form isn't even fully developed, while his human self is almost complete in all three aspects. Joey is probably the trigger for the aggression, because even though he's an adult, he's still pretty young."   
"So he's not balancing Rick, he's just making it worse?"   
Owen nodded and Sam got a stomachache.   
"And Emmett's thoughtless kiss added a sexual component that makes the chaos perfect," Owen said softly after a moment, and since his tone of voice was now a different one, Sam frowned.   
"Do I really want to know where this is going?" It was meant to be a joke, but it failed miserably since he got a sinister look from Owen.   
"If Rick is confronted with his sexuality _now_ , with normal aggression boiling at such a high level, it can backfire badly."   
Sam sighed. "What kind of dimensions are we talking about?" He had a bad feeling.   
"Oh, well... for one thing, he may never learn to keep the two things apart. And for another, Joey is the only real outlet he has right now. Although I doubt very much if Rick can handle the consequences of that."   
It took a moment for Sam to realize- then shuddered. A fight for dominance which ended with the loser having to endure sexual humiliation as well ... no, Rick would not endure either one or the other variation of this once the gentle human Rick reappeared.   
And then, after long years of absence, Henry appeared in Sam's mind and he shivered again. The memory was so vivid, so intense that he wrapped an arm around Owen and pressed his face to his chest.   
"Henry?" Owen asked softly and stroked Sam's back.   
Sam nodded silently. He didn't want Rick to have similar experiences.   
"Henry's dead, Sam, you know that. I killed him. We buried him deep. We spat on his body and pissed on his grave-"   
"I'd still blindly find his grave if I had to," Sam said quietly.   
"I know. Me too."   
They held each other for a moment, then Owen said: "You're a grown-up dragon. In case of emergency, you must separate the two."   
"I can't fight with this shoulder, Owen, and besides, I never learned how to fight as a dragon. Age dominance or not, but in the heat of battle they'll snatch me out of the air. Even uninjured."   
Hesitantly, with a slight pain in his voice, Owen said: "I know. Still, you have to try. Joey's instincts are strong and Rick is your son."   
Sam nodded and snuggled even closer to Owen, when suddenly another arm came from the other side. Gavin muttered something and Owen chuckled, but held Sam tighter as he tried to pull away.   
"You're both mine..."

~

"Say, Rick..." Owen began suspiciously casual.   
"Hmm?" Rick, who was tying the provisions bag, glanced up.   
"Do you know how to kiss a woman properly? Or why it's important to do it right?"   
Rick blinked in confusion and blushed, while Sam wondered what Owen was getting at. He glanced quickly at Gavin, who had frowned minimally, but otherwise didn't let himself be disturbed over breakfast.   
"...no..." Rick finally admitted. "Why do you ask?"   
"Oh, since you were bitching about not wanting to kiss men, you should at least know how to treat a _lady_ , don't you think?" There was a subtle smile on Owen's face, but there was also a slight tinge of sharpness in his voice; Sam suspected that the conversation to follow would be a punishment of some kind.   
Rick licked his lips uncomfortably and ducked his head.   
"Have you ever seen a naked woman?" Owen continued to ask, and Rick looked as if he wanted to disappear into the ground, while Sam laboriously tried to suppress a smile.   
"When I was a kid, my mum...?" Rick replied quietly, and Owen nodded thoughtfully before turning to Gavin.   
"You've got paper and ink, haven't you?"   
"You're seriously thinking of having an anatomy lesson now?" But he grabbed his backpack and rummaged through it.   
"Why not? The boys are old enough." Owen shrugged, then picked up the writing materials.   
"Do the adults have to listen to this lesson as well?" Sam wanted to know amused, and in reply he received a gloomy look.   
"Of course."   
Gavin giggled, but fell silent under Owen's gaze.  
Joey sighed. "What about me?"   
"You, too."

A little later, Rick visibly died a thousand deaths, while Emmett listened with great interest, Joey and Gavin were rather bored, and Sam didn't know where to look because Owen's detailed explanations and comparisons - not only of the upper lip pair but the lower lip pair as well - made him think of Romy, and this was visibly reflected in his loins. But Emmett and even Rick had the same problem.

"How many women have you been with?" Emmett asked at one point, and Owen answered in the same earnest tone of voice as he had given the lesson:   
"Three."   
"That's not much," Joey dryly noted.   
"So? At least I'm not as boring as Sam."   
"Excuse me, but I am a prince and a knight. What would it look like if I was fucking around?" Slightly upset, Sam looked at Owen who winked at him.   
"Would you do it if you were neither one thing nor the other?" Emmett asked curiously, and Sam shook his head while Gavin laughed softly.   
"Sam is much too prudish for that."   
"I'm not a prude, I just... oh, forget it."   
"A true knight," Gavin kept mocking, and Rick said softly:   
"One thing has nothing to do with the other, Uncle Gavin. One's own honor and mutual respect are not reserved for knights. Restraint and prudery are not the same thing. Shyness is something else again."   
Though Rick's words were true, Gavin shook his head. "You lack a sense of humor, boy. Your father knows what I mean."   
"But in this context, your words were a little inappropriate," Owen rebuked his lover gently. "Anyway... Your aforementioned mutual respect is a very important point in matters of love. And that goes both ways. Accept a _no_ , but don't be afraid to say _no_ yourself. Because right after respect comes trust, and without trust, things only work to a limited extent." In his last words, Owen squinted at Sam, who grimaced a little.   
"I couldn't agree more." As a result, he got questioning glances, but Owen effectively ended the conversation by folding his sketches and standing up.   
"And now, gentlemen, we resume our journey."

~

While it at least required a minimum of concentration to fly yourself, it was incredibly boring to be flown around. That was probably the only reason why Gavin started with politics at some point - which bored Joey and Emmett even more, annoyed Owen and offered Sam an occupation.  
By late afternoon, Gavin wanted to know:   
"What happened to the negotiations between Ringbay and Sunplains?"   
"You're not paying any attention," Owen muttered.   
"Neither nation is my neighbor, so please..."   
Sam smiled. "They reached an understanding a while back. Unless I'm mistaken, Maximilian and Ariane arrived a while ago at Feather Springs."   
"Why so?" Emmett asked in between, proving he'd been listening after all. "They're too young to get married."   
"That's right. But it's more about getting to know each other," Sam replied and nodded.   
"Aren't the two of them as old as Matt?" Rick asked in a rumbling voice and it surprised Sam that he had even heard the conversation over the wind.   
"Ariane definitely, but the Bellcastles always have so many children that you can't keep them all apart," Gavin mumbled.   
"Maximilian is the youngest child of King Frederick and a year older than Matt and Ariane. King Arthur has insisted that his only child must of course marry a royal child itself," Sam explained with a sigh. The old grouch from the coast was an unpleasant person, but when Sam listened to Gavin's insinuations, he was still better than his grandfather Gideon.   
"Somehow that's unfair," Rick then said thoughtfully. "We've got some interesting visitors and I'm not at home."   
"We have more important things to do, Rick," Sam rebuked him and the dragon sighed grimly.   
"I know." He sounded like a pouting child and the thought made Sam smile.

A little later, Joey asked aloud: "Rick, how much longer can you go on?"   
"I'm getting tired," Rick admitted after a moment. After his morning lesson, he was very quiet and easygoing.   
"Then go down. A little further north, there should be a little valley."   
"Okay..." Rick took a slight turn and Owen asked, addressing Joey: "How much further is it to the witches' valleys?"   
"Tomorrow we must cross the mountains there..." Joey pointed to the west, but to Sam the mountains all looked the same somehow. "... or if Rick can't handle the winds there"- a clear side-swipe- "then we'll have to go through the canyon. But it's more unpleasant for us."   
"I think we can take a little bit of discomfort in exchange for Rick not being in danger of crashing," Gavin remarked, visibly suppressing a sigh.   
"We can discuss this at dinner in peace, can't we?" Sam asked and patted Rick on the back encouragingly - whether he even felt it was another question, but at least he nodded.

~

The ice-cold water from the small stream that suddenly emerged from the rocks and disappeared into the same perhaps ten meters further on, literally burned on Sam's skin.   
In almost youthful recklessness, he had been tempted into a practice fight with Owen - with the sword in his left hand, of course - and with a certain pride he was allowed to see that he wasn't as rusty as he had thought. Though now he was all sweaty, but the water was just too cold to-   
"Dad?"   
He flinched in surprise, slipped on the wet stones and of course fell at the deepest point on his butt. "Cold!" he gasped, picked himself up hastily and wiped the damp hair from his face so he could see Rick, who was standing there half amused, half worried, looking at him.   
"Sorry, Dad..."   
Shivering, Sam stepped back into the meadow and peeled out of his soaking wet underpants. "What's up?"   
"I... um... I wanted..." Embarrassed, Rick kneaded his fingertips.   
"While you're searching for your words, I'll go dry off and get dressed, okay?"   
"O-okay..."  
That wasn't quite fair, but Sam froze and here in the mountains the summer wind was unpleasantly cool, almost cold, now that the sun was slowly setting. And a stupid cold was something he really didn't need right now.

When he came back dry and in warm clothes, Rick was still standing there sheepish and with his head down. Out of movement, Sam put an arm around his son's shoulders and pulled him along with him a little so they could sit in the lee of some rocks.   
"What's bothering you?" he then asked and Rick sighed, his hands in his lap forcefully keeping still.   
"I'm sorry," he then said quietly but very seriously. Rick had already apologized to Sam and Emmett the night before, probably to Owen as well, because he had more or less forced him to make the apologies, but now came the honest regret. "What I said. How I said it. I'm sorry, Dad. It's not my place to judge these things."   
Sam nodded thoughtfully. A _'it's okay'_ didn't feel right because it wasn't- Rick's reaction had really hurt- but an honest apology had to be accepted. "You have a right to have your own opinion about things," he finally said. "I'm sorry, too. That this happened in such an unfortunate way... well."   
Rick nodded weakly and sniffed. "It's just... you and Mum seem so _perfect_... and... and when I think of myself someday having to find a bride... well... then... then I always wish I could be as happy as you, you know? Because..."   
Sam pulled him close and leaned his forehead against Rick's temple. " _Nobody's_ perfect. But a relationship is what you make of it. And you and I have luck- or are unlucky- to be the prince with a choice. I honestly wouldn't have minded getting a bride presented to me, but I probably wouldn't have been truly happy." He paused for a moment, but since Rick didn't say anything, he went on. "Your grandfather had a choice, and at the same time he didn't. My parents ... well, let's put it this way, they were far from perfect in the end, although I believed that as a child. But like I said, it's up to you what comes out of it."   
"It's just... I mean..." Rick started babbling again and Sam leaned back to face him. "What you said..." - a tear rolled down Rick's cheek and Sam lovingly wiped it away - "that you're not as strong as you seem... that..."   
"It hurts when the dream image bursts, doesn't it?" Sam asked gently and Rick nodded.   
"I'm sorry, Dad. You're... you're damn strong. You have so much responsibility and... I don't know if I can do it."   
A smile flitted over Sam's lips. "You don't have to. Darkmoore will go to Valerie one day."   
"Thank the Great Mother," Rick murmured, also managing a weak smile. He wiped away another tear and sniffed; Sam could see he needed a moment to collect his thoughts, and remained silent.   
"I admire you very much for what you do," Rick finally said in a serious and astonishingly calm manner, but without looking at his father. "And you're right, you deserve a place of retreat and... and if that's Owen, so be it." He sniffed again. "I love you, Dad."   
"Thank you." Sam was genuinely touched. "I love you, too, Rick."   
Carefully, Rick wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly - and thankfully briefly, because otherwise the whole thing would have been a little _too_ emotional, and the group didn't need that now.   
"How about you apologize to Emmett just as sincerely?" Sam then suggested and Rick nodded thoughtfully.   
"Could you send him to me?"   
"Sure..."

"Is Daddy Dragon better now?" Owen's words were a bit mocking but full of affection and Sam nodded. Frowning, he watched as Gavin laboriously tried to keep a small fire alive.   
"What is he doing?"   
"Joey wanted to see how humans make fire," Owen explained dryly and with a little doubt.   
"It seems he succeeded after all..."   
"Obviously. But Joey didn't leave a good hair on the process, and Gavin is now plenty pissed off."   
Sam snorted amused. "Well, I'd like to see that tantrum."   
Owen just smiled and then turned halfway around. Sam followed his gaze and was a little surprised to see that Rick and Emmett were still standing by the stream and just seemed to be talking.   
"What do you think they're talking about?" he asked quietly, and Owen shrugged.   
"As long as the dust settles, I don't really care." The last syllable was still on Owen's lips as Rick and Emmett hugged. It seemed a little awkward and Sam had to smile as Rick rubbed his neck in embarrassment afterwards.   
"Well, I guess the apology has arrived," he said quietly and Owen nodded thoughtfully while Gavin behind them angrily snapped at Joey, telling him to shut up.

~

"Ouch! Gavin! Get your foot out of my _face_ ," Sam protested, pushing said foot aside while Gavin mumbled an apology around Owen's dick.   
"You're just jealous," Owen said with an audible grin and Sam snorted.   
"Sure. And tomorrow-"   
_"Take that back!"_ Rick's voice was almost an angry shriek. It rumbled, Emmett yelled, Joey hissed, and something hit hard on the ground.   
When Sam managed to stick his head out of the tent, Joey just kicked the red-hot remains of the small fire towards Rick. Sparks were blazing and Rick jumped at Joey, they went down and the moment Sam wondered why they were still in human form, they transformed.   
Owen literally pushed him out of the tent, which saved him a heavy blow from Joey's wings on one hand, but on the other hand he was torn from his feet by Joey's tail whipping right over the ground.   
"Whew!"   
Emmett squealed up and Sam saw the tent collapse over him. Holding his underpants with one hand at thigh level, Owen came up on his feet.   
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!"   
"Emmett! Are you okay?!" Gavin helped his nephew out of the tent, and Emmett nodded with big eyes.   
Sam's question, about what had actually happened, got stuck in his throat as now Rick's tail was whizzing through the air and he had to dodge.   
Gavin, however, cried out. Avoiding another blow, Sam saw that Gavin had gone down and pressed a hand on his thigh.   
"Get in the air!" Owen yelled angrily.   
With just a few steps Sam was with Gavin, creating a spark of light, but at first glance he saw no wound - it had been more like a blunt blow.   
"In the air!" Owen yelled again and Sam looked up. The redhead suddenly held his sword in his hand and struck at the tail twitching in their direction again.   
"Owen!"   
"Into the air," he yelled a third time, and then Sam watched in alarm as Rick and Joey - totally bitten into each other - somehow managed to get up in the air.   
"What happened?" Sam wanted to know from Emmett, but Emmett shrugged.   
"They were talking in dragon language. Actually... Actually, everything was fine..."   
"So fine they're at each other's throats right now," Owen growled and Sam looked up into the sky again, where Joey was just covering Rick with fire.   
"Put the sword down," Sam then said sharply, returning Owen's angry look for a moment until Gavin groaned softly.   
"I'm fine, Owen."   
"You sure?" At once, Owen knelt down beside him and he nodded.   
"A nice contusion, but nothing broken."   
"Good." Owen kissed Gavin on the forehead and Sam turned away, stepping out a few smoldering grass stains and then looked up at the dragon fight again.   
"Ewww!" Gavin then squealed and Sam hurriedly spun around - Gavin wiped a dark drop of blood from his forehead that had fallen from the sky.   
"Sam..." Owen said quietly and Sam turned his gaze away anew. "Sam," Owen repeated insistently and stepped beside him. "If those two hurt each other badly, we'll be stuck here."   
"I know." Sam said soundlessly. It was a nice euphemism for anything that might happen in that fight. "I think Joey really pissed Rick off this time," he muttered, and then Owen growled:   
"You don't say."   
A few heartbeats later they flinched in unison when Joey staggered as he tried to dodge Rick's flames and Rick used the opportunity to hurl the dark dragon with full force against one of the rock walls above the small valley.   
Suddenly Sam's heart beat right on his tongue, as Rick shot with outstretched claws at the dazed Joey, who somehow managed to grab hold of the rock walls with the help of the claws on the wingtips and not crash.   
"Sam..."   
"I can't..."   
"Rick will kill him!" The bloodcurdling roar of an angry dragon underlined Owen's words.   
"I can't!" Sam repeated, realizing he was afraid of his own son.  
The two dragons crashed - flapping wildly their wings and clutching at each other with the claws - into the meadow not far from the tents, and the impact almost tore Sam from his feet.   
"Sam!" Owen grabbed his arm, which made him stagger even more. "Rick's gonna kill him!"   
Sam watched in horror as Rick tried to drag the half-unconscious Joey up into the air. And then his teeth clacked as Owen slapped him hard.   
"I swear to the Great Mother, Samson, if you let this happen, I will never speak to you again!"   
It wasn't so much the threat itself as the fact that Owen called him _Samson_ that got Sam out of his numbness.   
"Okay..." he said quietly and swallowed. Fear was a bad companion for a fight.

He took a deep breath and ran off, leapt into the air and felt the transformation take hold of him. His shoulder hurt brutally and he roared up - which at least attracted Rick's attention. He would have loved to try with soothing words, but as a mute dragon this wasn't an option. Moreover, Rick was quite obviously in a bloodlust, because although he had flown many hours and had already fought with Joey, nothing in his movements showed even the slightest hint of tiredness.   
Maybe, Sam thought and instinctively spat fire, it wasn't even Rick anymore at the moment, just a dragon.   
The thought hurt more than the claw stroke on his tail. And yet he wrestled his pain down and fought- against his own son, for life and death, to protect the humans and the wounded dragon down there. He did what he had sworn to do as a knight, what he would swear again at his coronation.   
If he survived this.

Surprisingly, he soon noticed a pattern in Rick's attacks and adjusted to it, but that didn't stop his right wing from flapping more and more sluggishly and he dropped quite a bit after an evasive maneuver.   
And then something hit him hard in the back.   
It took him a moment to realize that Rick was pushing him to the ground, and with a scream and a burst of flame back over his shoulder he broke loose - only to crash to the ground with full force almost exactly where Joey had hit before. It knocked the air out of his lungs and he lay unfortunate on his side, but before he could do anything about it, Rick was already above him.   
The spat flames were no more than a threat, as his foreleg on Sam's wing pinned him to the ground very effectively. Seconds later, sharp teeth closed around his neck and then the heavy dragon body pushed him additionally to the ground.   
In surging panic, Sam tore up his tail and judging by the strange noise Rick made, he had hit exactly the swollen scaled pouch from which a completely different tail would have peeled out at any moment. He took advantage of the tiny moment, transformed back and wrapped a shield of magic around him before rolling to the side and out of reach.

Whatever the reason might be - Rick didn't attack again and Sam came panting to his feet.  
The golden dragon with the red spots on his wings shook and swung his head around to look at Sam.   
Strangely detached, Sam noticed how his fear, which he had felt just a moment ago, turned to anger and he exploded.   
"I'm done with it!" he shouted in Rick's face. "I am so fucking _done_ with you dragons!"   
The big head came carefully closer and with his bare fist he punched right between the nostrils - startled, the head flinched back.   
"I may have sworn to never slay another dragon, but-"   
"Dad..." It was half a question, half a plea, what the suddenly naked and trembling Rick said. In the dim moonlight a few scales sparkled, sitting exactly where the protective amulet had been all the years before.   
They looked at each other, searching for words and finding none.

Finally it was Rick who took a step back.   
"Rick..." Calming, Sam raised his hands - or at least his left hand, because his right arm was completely numb.   
"No, Dad..."   
"Rick, wait..."   
Rick changed back into dragonform and shook his head weakly. "I am a danger to you."   
"What..."   
"I'll be back when-"   
"You can't just leave!" Protesting, Sam shook his head.   
"Yes, I can. Don't worry about me. A dragon always finds its way back to the place where it was hatched. And as my sire is of dragon blood, I will also find my way back to you." The dragon took another step back, spread the wings and leapt into the air.   
"Rick! Come back _immediately_!" Sam yelled after him, but it was no use, for Rick disappeared into the night without another word.   
As if from far away, Sam heard someone calling out for him, but he completely blanked that out. With a tired gesture he wiped the hair from his face and closed his eyes.   
"Shit..."


	10. Not only the strengths form a man, but also his weaknesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do with a rainy day?

Sam had always been sure that he and Romy did better than their own parents. Not that it was hard in terms of Ruby and Antonidas, but he could see how Romy was trying hard not to fall for the same maternal aloofness that seemed to be common among witches - it was a little too much of good for Matt, but hey...   
Sam himself understood Owen's criticism pretty well. They had actually thought about telling him for a while, but in Romy's opinion, Rick was just too different than a dragon freak could have helped much.   
So much for that.   
As for Gavin's comment... that hurt. And it would have been silly to relate Gavin's opinion to the fact that on the one hand they weren't best friends and on the other hand Gavin only seemed to like knights when they were good in bed. Still, part of Sam defiantly wanted to push Gavin's words away, for whatever silly reason, but the fact that-  
He blinked and looked up when a thick raindrop burst on his cheek. Bloated dark clouds hung in the sky and seemed to be dragged down by their weight, almost like a lid on the canyon through which they rushed. Said canyon was just wide enough for Joey's wingspan- Sam couldn't have flown here himself- and with the ever-increasing gusts, it left him little room to go with the wind.   
The first raindrop was joined by others and Sam's stomach jumped awkwardly when Joey dropped a bit to avoid a stone arch, then laid on his side to avoid a ledge, and then dropped again because the upper part of the canyon was getting too narrow.   
Gavin made a choking sound.   
"Joey," Owen shouted over the whistling of the wind, adding a shrill trill. "Joey! If it's going to be a storm, we should-" His sentence ended in a terrified scream as a flash of lightning somewhere above them lit up the anthracite clouds, and Sam gave a faint cry of pain as Owen clawed his fingers painfully tight into Sam's arm.   
Joey made another swerve and Gavin...well, whether it was Owen's name or the choking - Sam couldn't tell, but Gavin wasn't able to take care of Owen's fear of thunderstorms. It had gotten better over the years, but for now they were outside, the rain was pouring down on them, and as fast as lightning and thunder followed each other, they flew right into it. As a dragon, Joey was lightning safe - the humans on his back were not.   
Sam hugged the stiff Owen, who clung to him and gave a faint whimper. "Joey!" Sam wasn't sure if Joey was aware of the danger to the humans. The dragon harness, which had been made to Sam's measurements, slipped on his smaller and now wet body and the rather makeshift additional belts for the passengers were not meant for such a wild ride.   
"Joey! We have to take shelter," Sam yelled over Owen's head.  
Gavin yelled something Sam didn't understand, and Emmett, who was sitting further ahead, turned halfway around. They made eye contact for a brief moment, then a swerve of Joey made Emmett tip over to the side, seemingly in pain.   
"Joey!" Emmett yelled, "JO-EY!" There was a shrill undertone in his voice, and Joey tilted his head as a sign that he heard it. "We gotta find shelter! I-" Emmett looked back again, "I'm scared, Joey! The storm scares me!"   
_Smart boy_ , Sam thought approvingly, because for Emmett, Joey would do almost anything.   
Joey's answer, for Sam's ears at least, was lost in the next thunderclap. But whatever he might have said- as he turned toward the ground in a spiral, they all cried out, and for a moment Sam was unsure who was holding on to whom.  
  


"Get in there!" Joey rumbled, balancing unsteadily on a ledge too small. Sam fiddled with the buckle of his seatbelt and said softly:   
"Owen... Owen it's okay, we found a cave. We're safe there."   
"Okay." Owen's answer was little more than a whimper and the next flash cast ghostly shadows.   
"Uncle Gavin! You've gotta get in on this!" Emmett shouted at that moment, and over Owen, Sam saw the boy trying to help Gavin from the dragon's back. That they all managed to get down safely on the right side of the slippery dragon's back at the end seemed almost like a miracle to Sam, for Owen was stiff with fear, and Gavin was dazed by the flight. Furthermore, his thigh seemed to be more battered by the blow with the dragon's tail than expected, for Emmett and Sam almost had to carry him to the back wall of the small cave. At the cave entrance Joey curled up to protect them from most of the wind and rain, but it was almost pitch black and Sam created a spark of light to make sure they were all right.

As Gavin dozed against a wall, Emmett hiding under Joey's wing keeping the dragon company, and Owen curled up half in Sam's arms, half on his lap, Sam sighed softly and closed his eyes for a moment.   
Concern filled his thoughts. First and foremost he worried about Rick, but in that respect there was absolutely nothing he could do for the time being except hope and prayer. He was worried about Emily and in connection with that, about how to face the witches. There had been several discussions about this, but none of the ideas seemed to be feasible.   
The witch light flickered and Sam frowned, but his thoughts had simply drifted too far. Magic was another worry on his list, though, because so far away from Romy, the emeralds were recharging infinitely slowly and he had no idea how much Rick had drawn from the reservoir to allow his wound to heal this much. Considering the fact that Rick was absolutely inexperienced and the magic was therefore mostly unguided, probably quite a lot.

"Merciful Lady Winter..." Gavin moaned softly.   
"How are you?" Sam wanted to know carefully and Gavin made a suffering sound before he burped suppressed and moaned again, a hand pressed to his stomach.   
"It will pass," Owen mumbled softly and reached out a hand towards Gavin, who was sitting a little too far away.   
"I hope so."  
"You shouldn't have turned down all my invitations to go a few rounds over Seven Hills," Sam then remarked with a little amusement, as Gavin's recent moans sounded a little acted out. "If we had, we'd have known beforehand that our delicate prince had a sensitive stomach."   
"Bastard."   
"I'm a lot of things, but I'm really not _that_."   
"You are descended from some." Gavin growled grumpy and not quite so miserable.   
Sam shrugged half-heartedly. "There is a dragon in my family tree, and if you believe the stories, a dwarf, but in the end, an Appleberry is still an Appleberry." He paused. "Said bastard saved my bloodline, so I'm certainly not going to make him regret being born in the wrong bed."   
"It's probably a _bit_ late for that, too," Owen remarked and managed a wry grin, before the next thunder sent him into another fierce jolt.   
"Besides, you're the one who's raising a cuckoo child," Sam then added, and Gavin rolled his eyes.   
"At least I know about it."   
"Maybe so, but which one of you had the idea to take _Owen_ , of all people, as a father? I mean, if Jon had inherited the red hair, it-"   
"It was Ginny's idea," Gavin interrupted him and made a tired gesture. "What do you think how much we discussed that very red hair? But she was confident it could safely be blamed on the Redthornes."   
Sam gave a skeptical snort, although Ginevra was not so wrong about it. Sylvia had been blonde herself, but Sam and his siblings had all gone through a phase as babies where they were carrot heads; Gordon even up to infancy.   
"Ginny wanted it that way," Gavin repeated, rubbing his forehead. "She suffered terribly from the miscarriage, and... I think Jon should make amends."   
Sam knew what it meant to lose a child, but he also knew Gavin well enough to know that his brother-in-law cared more about Ginevra than the unborn child when his face twisted.   
"I wish I could have given her what she wanted."   
"But you did," Owen said softly. "Indirectly, but still."   
Sam nodded in agreement and Gavin lowered his head.   
"I'm sorry, Sam, that I can't be a better husband to your sister. I'm sorry, Owen, that I'm not a better father to your son." Any thought of how weird that sentence sounded faded away when Gavin sobbed softly. Though it thundered again, Owen freed himself from his rigidity and crawled over to Gavin; Sam sat down on the other side of him and reached for his hand.   
Owen said softly: "No one's perfect, Gavin, but it doesn't matter. I love you, okay? Love forgives. And we're lucky we're not alone. We've got Sam and Ginny and-" Another thunder interrupted him and then he didn't pick up his line because Gavin kissed him.   
Sam rolled his eyes, because the kiss was a little too passionate for his taste to hold a someone else's hand in the meantime. He cleared his throat and got a slightly embarrassed smile from Gavin before Owen bent over and gave Sam a kiss that was a bit too intense as well.   
"That... wasn't what I meant," Sam remarked afterwards; Owen smiled silently while Gavin asked critically:   
"Do we have to kiss now, too?"   
"I'll pass," Sam said hurriedly, but still squeezed Gavin's hand. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Owen's right, nobody's perfect, and you don't have to make yourself smaller than you are."   
Gavin sniffed again. "Don't bother, Sam. I know I've failed in every important aspect."   
"You haven't," Owen immediately contradicted seriously. "You've had your quirks and you've made a few mistakes, but you haven't failed."   
"That's what Gideon told you, and he's long dead," Sam added.   
It was quiet for a moment, apart from a soft hum of Joey's and the rushing of the rain, then Sam said:   
"You know, if it weren't for Gideon, it would be admirable how openly you can talk about these things. I have to swallow my pride for that, and it's a struggle with myself every time..."   
"You're a proud bastard..." mumbled Gavin. "And when it comes to mistakes, you're the one to look at with a magnifying glass."   
Sam and Owen snorted.   
"We agreed that Sam had made some very significant mistakes with Rick," Owen said critically, and as Sam rolled his eyes, Gavin sighed.   
However, Sam waited in vain for a response and a little later he leaned his head against Gavin's shoulder and dozed off as the storm slowly passed.

~

In the end they all snuggled up against Joey's warm flank, because their wet clothes dried only slowly, although the dragon constantly expelled hot air and occasionally even heated the stones with direct fire. The rain rustled steadily, lulling monotonous, and Sam raised his head as Emmett slid over to him.   
"Hey," Sam said softly, and Emmett tried to smile.   
"Uncle Sam," he began after a moment of uncomfortable silence.   
"Hmm?"   
"What made you decide to listen to my parents and help them after all these years?" he wanted to know, and Sam looked at him surprised. A strange expression lay on his nephew's face, thoughtful and almost critical.   
"Your mum wrote the letter and it was your father who said the crucial words all those years ago. She's my sister, I know her quite well and I know the fears one can develop when it comes to one's own children."   
"Hmm." Emmett didn't seem convinced, and Sam quoted the letter and told them about his and Romy's reflections and discussions on the subject.

"This is the first time you've mentioned the key words," Owen remarked with a furrowed brow and Gavin asked, irritated:   
"Why did she write _witches_ if she thought it was the Path of the Seven?"   
"She probably addressed Romy and me directly," Sam replied, a little unsettled by the critical looks. Gavin's question was good, but it hadn't come to him before because he felt the key words spoke to him so directly. Doubts grew in him and he looked at Emmett, who was chewing on his lower lip. Just as Sam was about to turn his gaze, a hint of pain appeared in Emmett's face and Sam got the dull feeling that the boy knew more than he was telling them- or he was thinking in a direction Sam didn't want to think.

~

It had stopped raining, but now it was deepest night and Sam saw nothing but a brighter streak of sky somewhere above him and the dark shimmer of water further down in the canyon. The name _Emmett_ had reappeared on his list of worries, though now for other reasons he couldn't really name. But the fact that the boy had allowed Joey to take care of him in human form was meaningful enough- after a blow job (which ended with a relieved scream that left Sam wondering how Owen and Gavin had slept through it), Emmett had fallen asleep in Joey's arms, sobbing.   
Shivering, Sam wrapped his arms around himself and wondered for the hundredth time in that hour if Sarah-Jane and Trent had been honest with him.

Warm strong arms wrapped around him from behind and he got a kiss on the neck.   
"Never do that again," Owen demanded harshly.   
"What?" Sam asked, leaning into the hug.   
"Wanting to die right in front of me."   
Sam snorted. "As if that was really my intention."   
"I can't lose you," Owen whispered with an almost desperate undertone. "I couldn't bear it."   
Sam gently turned and returned the hug, before gently saying: "You've got Gavin."   
"Gavin isn't everything, Sam. I mean it." Owen took a shaky breath. "I need you, _both_ of you. I... You're so strong, and after all we've been through... I've already lost Franz." He choked out the last words, and Sam hugged Owen tight, even though it hurt.   
"You won't lose me," he said softly. "I need you too. And when I'm king, I'm going to need you even more." But would he have even the time? "You know... I'm terrified of failing. To disappoint my country and my family." Admitting that to Owen wasn't as hard as he feared, but then again, he's been carrying those fears around long enough. And he'd already disappointed Owen by not telling him about Rick.   
"After all you've already done for Whitehill and Darkmoore?" Owen asked incredulously. "Sam, you're going to go down in the history books! And just like your favorite knight, you'll be remembered for a thousand years. King of two lands, dragon slayer and dragon himself... You surely have thirty years left in which you can do the most incredible things, so why do you doubt yourself so much?"   
"That doesn't exactly help to ease the pressure, you're aware of that?" muttered Sam unhappily, but Owen just held him even tighter than before and Sam groaned. "You're not losing me, Owen. I will be your princess forever."   
"Do you promise?"   
"I swear."   
Owen nodded at Sam's shoulder and then pushed him away a little bit. They looked at each other and Sam smiled bravely because Owen still looked unhappy. He breathed a kiss on Owen's lips and wanted to end the conversation, but Owen kissed him back, tenderly and lovingly, burying a hand in his hair as the kiss grew longer and longer.   
Familiar warmth spread through Sam and he took a step back; Owen let him go only hesitantly. But the warmth fizzled away immediately as Sam saw Gavin's pinched face in the faint glow of the magical spark of light. The other prince turned away and, guiltily, Sam wondered if Gavin's intense interest in this young Edwin was not in part defiant jealousy.


	11. Some shadows from the past are unpleasantly long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ready to meet the renegade witches?

In the faint light of the first morning sunbeams, Sam and the others peered into the valley where the witches in question lived. It was much bigger than he had imagined: pastures, fields and orchards surrounded a small village and still mostly hidden in the shadows lay something that was probably a church. But above the valley seemed to hang a kind of veil, something that irritated Sam's perception.   
"How in the world did they get all this material here?" Emmett asked in complete amazement. "By magic alone?" Sam and Owen had wanted to leave Emmett, the object of the witch's desire, in a safe cave, but in the end, they gave in because they wanted to save his twin sister.   
"With magic, many things are possible," Owen replied and Sam saw him frown.  
"You feel it, don't you?" he asked and Owen nodded.   
"There's something wrong here."   
"This isn't pure witch magic," Joey said quietly.   
"What is it?" Gavin wanted to know. The village seemed to be awakening, for the loud cackling of chickens sounded and almost drowned out two roosters crowding against each other.   
"Feels like earth magic... but soiled," Joey said slowly and in a way that put Sam on alert.   
"Promise me we'll never mess with witches again after this," mumbled Owen.   
"If you include Romy, Valerie and future granddaughters in this, you're going to give me a pretty unpleasant life," muttered Sam back and Owen snorted with a minimal amount of amusement, but he didn't come to a verbal answer, for a cold presence made them all move around.   
"Well, look who we have here..."   
Joey hissed at the shadowy human figure in response, made a backward leap and disappeared from Sam's field of vision, who stared at the shadow like paralyzed. The shadows in the shadows danced and almost seemed to form a grin; the figure's arm extended towards Gavin, who gasped in horror. And then he collapsed without a sound as the arm stretched beyond any natural length, sliding through Gavin and towards Owen. Sam tore himself from his rigidity, grabbed Owen by the shoulder and groaned as the black shadow fingers touched Owen. Painful grief filled him for a moment, so burning and intense that it overpowered all his senses until the shadow touched him directly.

~

Sam moaned quietly and collided with obstacles in almost all directions as he tried to stretch his cramped body. Obstacles feeling like metal bars.   
He blinked and groaned as he realized that he was actually sitting in a cage. Obviously, it wasn't meant for humans, because Sam had hardly any room to sit differently, but Owen, in a cage to his left, seemed even more squeezed.   
"Owen..." he whispered harshly. "Owen!" On Owen's other side was another cage with Gavin inside, and a good distance to Sam's right was a very angry-looking Joey. As if to mock them, the cages were in an orchard and Sam's aversion to cherries and pears grew a little more.  
"Owen!" he hissed again, this time louder, and Owen made a tortured sound before lifting his head and blinking; a red dent from the cage bars shone on his forehead.   
"Sam..." he muttered, and then, "Gavin!"   
"Other side," Sam said dull.   
Owen turned around, banging his head on the low top of the cage, shouting: "Gavin!"   
"Yeah..." Gavin said, barely audible.   
"Gavin you okay?"   
"Yeah..." Weakly he waved his hand. "  
Does anyone know what this shadow thing was?" Sam wanted to know, and Joey growled.   
"It's powerful and dirty."   
As Sam turned to him, the shape-shifter dragon tugged unsuccessfully on what looked like a dirty leather collar. "What have you got there?" Sam asked with a frown and Joey hissed angrily before saying:   
"It's what stops us from shifting."   
_"Us?"_   
"You're wearing one too," Owen noticed dryly and Sam's hand flew to his throat - there was a ring of soft leather there.   
"An anti-magic collar... it works for shapeshifters?" Had they known about this earlier, it would have saved Romy a lot of trouble.  
Joey simply growled as response.  
"I bet they couldn't take Romy's necklace off you so they put you in double and triple chains."   
Sam made a face. "Witches..."   
"Witches are bitches," Owen confirmed with a narrow nod.   
"Does anyone see Emmett?" Gavin wanted to know; his voice sounded faint, like he was in pain.  
Joey hissed a negative answer.   
Sam, meanwhile, was trying to get his bearings. The houses shimmered in a good distance between the trees and bushes and the rustling of leaves in the wind all around him strangely ruled out most of the other sounds. He wasn't sure if he could really hear the clucking of chickens and bleating of sheep, or if he was imagining it, but the swelling and falling of several voices in an argument was definitely there.   
"They'd better let us out," Joey hissed; being locked up and that in human form did the boy no good.   
"I doubt they'll do that," Owen muttered so softly that only Sam heard him.

The argument grew louder and fiercer and Sam thought he could feel more magic in the air, but then it got quiet again and two minutes later three women came closer. Two of them were probably in their late forties like Sam, the third at least twenty years older; all three wore coarse undyed clothes and were barefoot. Sam was a little surprised when one of the two younger ones came forward and inspected them all. In a way that reminded him quite unpleasantly of certain other witches.   
"Thank you for bringing us the other twin," she said amused. "And we could really use your help, too." She looked at Gavin, who groaned before he said:   
"Do you even know who we are?"   
"Does it matter?" She tilted her head and Sam, who couldn't see her face, could guess what she meant by Gavin's expression. "Rare gifts must be praised." She turned away and nodded at the others. "Have Clary bring them food and water."   
"Why Clary?" the old woman asked, and the three of them left.   
"She has potential," Sam heard the obvious leader say before Owen said:   
"I don't like this."   
"I'd be very surprised if we liked anything about this situation," Gavin said surprisingly sharp. Gavin and Owen seemed to be communicating wordlessly, and Sam looked at Joey who growled:   
"At least they're bringing us food."

But it took a little eternity until said food arrived and Sam's butt and his joints started to protest.   
Well, when it came, it did so in the form of a levitating tray with steaming wooden bowls and four also levitating water hoses - accompanied by a young witch. Said witch was probably the same age as Valerie, perhaps younger, and Sam was quite fascinated as she pushed the bowl through the metal bars - the space between them was too narrow for the bowls and although he looked closely he could not tell whether her magic was bending the metal or the wood. When he looked up at her, however, it was she who looked at him with fascination.   
With an inner sigh he put on a smile. She was one of those young things who looked at him as if he had been sent by the Great Mother herself; the older he got, the worse it got - especially in Feather Springs. But after twenty years of being king over women who didn't want a king, and a certain turmoil among the ladies later, Sam had learned a lot about witches.  
"Thank you." He straightened his smile and looked at her, holding the food bowl in one hand and reaching for the cage bars with the other - she blushed deeply.   
"We don't want to hurt you," she said quietly.   
"I know," he replied gently.   
"I am Clary," she said then and he nodded.   
"Sam."   
She blushed even more, and after one last look, which he was sure was for his mouth, she stood up and brought Joey his food, too, before she hurried away.   
"Ready for an Indian Summer?" Owen mocked, and Sam snorted.   
"I'm not my father. But having a few supporters can't hurt. Besides," he leaned his shoulder against the bars, "I already have a-"   
"Purple root," Gavin chimed in between, and when Sam bent over, he saw disgust on his face.   
"What's so bad about purple root? It tastes good." One of the few vegetables he actually liked to eat.   
"Sam," Gavin said in all seriousness. "Sam, seriously. I don't know if you have a magic stomach, but normal people need to fart from purple root. A lot."   
Sam grinned- apparently the problem actually went right past him.   
"And honestly," Owen interjected, "sex is absolutely no fun that way. No matter what the position."   
The grin turned into an amused chuckle. "Well, you can eat with confidence. I doubt you'll be getting much sex anytime soon."   
Gavin snorted in disgust, but started to eat; Owen leaned in Sam's direction.   
"Clary is certainly not yet a full-fledged witch."   
"No," Sam agreed with him. They exchanged glances.   
"Rare gifts must be praised..." Owen muttered uneasily and Sam nodded before he finally started to eat. "Sam...you were already a ritual knight..." It was a one-time job.   
"Right. I don't know if you know the numbers in Darkmoore, but powerful witch families could never supply each other with enough men. Ritual knights can die, but future fathers are needed anyway."   
Owen made a face, suddenly pale. "You know, now it suddenly makes sense that for ages it's been said that Lady Winter would take the handsome young men to the deep mountains."   
Sam snorted. "I told you witches don't have enough sons. They're not all like Romy and can influence these things. And even if- as secluded as they live here, the community needs fresh blood now and then."   
Owen put aside the practically untouched bowl. "And that doesn't bother you?"   
"It does" Sam said, much more calmly than he felt. "It does." Memories more than 20 years old crawled with icy fingers into his head. "But we're a few years and a few experiences richer than that, don't you think?" While Owen looked at him with more than a little skepticism, he took off his magic necklace. "Take it. I can't use it right now and-"   
"No. Keep it."   
"But-"   
"Keep it. We don't know where the twins are or how they're doing. And if the witches feel the necklace on me, they'll put a collar on me too."   
"But we don't know how much time we have before they want to perform this stupid ritual," Sam returned, nevertheless, he put the necklace back on.   
Owen pressed his lips together and they looked at each other. "I don't want to go through the preparations for being a ritual knight again, nor do I want Gavin to have to go through this," Owen then said pressed.   
"Do you think _I_ would want this to happen? Do you think I want, as an already hardened knight, to be a stud?"   
"Blind actionism won't help us, Sam."   
"Neither will sitting around waiting, Owen."  
"Do you think you could let me in on your secrets?" Gavin interfered and Sam and Owen sighed almost simultaneously before they sat back.

~

With an almost dreamy smile, Clary handed Sam after an extremely uncomfortable night a mug of juice through the bars for breakfast, followed by a plate of bread and intensive smelling cheese.   
"Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at the latest, they will hold the fertility ritual," she said slowly. For a moment she lowered her eyes. "You didn't bring the boy here, you wanted to get them out of here, didn't you?"   
"We're the twins' uncles," Sam said seriously, and she nodded thoughtfully before taking a deep breath.   
"Okay..." Nevertheless she reached out for him and touched his cheek gently. He felt her magic - and she flinched back. She didn't say anything but her eyes grew wide in surprise and her mouth formed an _O_. Again she leaned forward but then she thought better of it. She jumped up instead and hurried away.   
"Well, Sam, I guess you just broke poor Clary's heart," Owen remarked, chewing and grinning.   
"She's not the first," Sam returned with a cheeky grin and bit into the bread; the cheese tasted even more intense than it smelt and almost made him nauseous.   
"Show-off," Gavin chimed in.   
"You're breaking the hearts of knights, me witches’ - what's the problem?" Sam returned, and while Joey was humming _'idiot humans'_ , Gavin gave him the middle finger and Owen rolled his eyes.

But the moment of good mood didn't last long.   
The witch, who had spoken to them the day before, approached them through the orchard and examined them all again before her eyes fell on Sam.   
"You were a ritual knight," she said, making it sound minimally like a question.   
Sam simply nodded and the corners of her mouth curled up into a narrow smile.   
"Poor Clary won't like that, but some others will." This was exactly what Sam had feared, though he was well aware that his heart ring might bring a surprise - hopefully an unpleasant one for the witches.   
Owen, however, effectively changed the subject: "What is so special about the twins that you use _them_ for the ritual and not another pair of twins?"   
The witch raised an eyebrow. "Interesting question. They both have magic in their blood, but that was rather incidental to our choice, a nice bonus, so to speak." She smiled as Sam's stomach rumbled ominously because it suddenly put things in a whole new light. However, he didn't have time to think about it much, because the witch waved to someone and a young woman approached.   
Sam remembered her as a cute little girl, but Emily had grown into a charming young woman and she smiled shyly. Involuntarily Sam smiled back. Her dress was old-fashioned laced at the sides, but that made her curves look promising, and Sam leaned forward, wanted a better look, and was distracted by a faint _click_. Irritated, he looked at his hand, which enclosed a cage bar, and the golden ring. His wedding ring.   
He blinked, frowned, and listened into himself. The pressure in his loins was definitely _not_ arousal and he looked back at Emily.   
She stared into the void and her smile was empty - she was probably filled to the brim with drugs.   
"Owen," Sam said quietly, but warningly.   
"Do you think Emmett will mind if I marry her?" Owen asked thoughtfully. He was pitching visibly a tent and Sam's gaze went up to Gavin, who was leaning against the bars and looking as if he was about to drool.   
Joey, on the other side, was already one step further and grabbing himself.   
"Owen... you remember Jocelyn?"   
"Jocelyn?" Owen muttered dozily.   
"Jocelyn or... Ellie."   
"Ellie." Owen's jaw clenched.   
"You remember Ellie? What she did? What she made Henry do?"   
Owen growled and tore his gaze off Emily. "Holy crap." He blinked violently and took a deep breath. In the background, Joey started grunting rhythmically, and Gavin was now also holding himself.   
"This is stronger than Jocelyn, isn't it?"   
"Jocelyn was much more subtle, but if Emily is to get her twin brother, the magic has to be strong." Sam nodded seriously and Owen sighed annoyed.   
"Witches are bitches."   
"Emily... that's enough." The other witch called out softly and Emily turned and floated away in a drug haze. She was not yet out of sight when Joey roared. Sam didn't turn, Owen's raised eyebrow was enough for him.   
"Ten out of ten points for range and quantity," Owen commented quite impressed, and Sam rolled his eyes.   
"Gavin seems to be close."   
Owen turned. "No, not really."   
At that moment, Gavin paused, blinking in annoyance and looking at his hand. "And why exactly am I wagging myself?"   
"Ugly story, Gavin, very ugly story," Sam replied with a hint of humor and Owen snorted.   
"Well, while I'm at it..." Gavin sighed and went on.   
Sam leaned against the bars again and closed his eyes.   
"We're in a pretty mess," Owen remarked, and Sam, wondering for a moment why Owen wasn't watching his lover, replied:   
"Yep. And we're too old for uncomfortable cages, I tell you."   
"Hmm," Owen agreed. "I know. Time for the next generation, hmm?"   
Sam shook his head. "You can imagine how Rick or Garett would react now. The boys are still too young."   
"Shitty timing."   
"Definitely."


	12. In spite of all secrets and magic, in the end it's mostly all about sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is the new information a reward for patience or is there a price to pay?

Sitting around and waiting was boring and painful. And exhausting.   
The day passed with attempts to talk in some way, but they didn't have much left to say.   
In the afternoon, after a group of witches had come by to check them out, Joey had a mediocre tantrum. Hard enough that Sam was glad not to have to mess with him, but also hard enough to make him sink like a pile of misery in the end.   
"Sam?," he started after a while of oppressive silence.   
"Hmm?"   
"We're gonna get out of this, right?"   
"Yes." If Owen agreed to use magic to free them, they could leave whenever they wanted- Sam was a little upset at Owen's hesitation.   
"What happens after?"   
"Well, we get the rest of our stuff from the cave where we left it, and then we bring the twins home."   
Joey nodded slowly and then looked up with big eyes; he looked much younger than before. "Emmett won't want to stay with me, will he?"   
"I doubt it."   
"Sam," Owen hissed angrily, before turning to Joey and saying louder: "There's two problems, Joey. One, people don't feel comfortable being considered property."   
Joey made a face.   
"And two, according to our laws, Emmett is still a child. Therefore, it is up to his parents to decide where he stays."   
"A third problem: Dragon dens are not made for humans," Gavin threw in dry, and Sam reassuringly said:   
"I didn't mean he would never want to see you again, Joey, but that dragon caves are rather uncomfortable for humans. Besides, it would put him awfully far away from his family and friends."   
Joey visibly thought hard and Owen cautiously asked:   
"Have you ever taken care of a human?"   
"No," Joey admitted with a sigh and then raised his eyes to Sam. "Emmett would be comfortable in Rick's cave, right?"   
"People live in houses," Gavin lectured him and Sam shook his head.   
"That's just a silly crush, Joey. Rick likes girls, and Emmett, too, actually."   
"Great Mother, Sam! Don't rob him of all hope. We need a battle-ready dragon," Owen hissed, and Sam hissed back:   
"Do you want these half-baked half-truths to blow up in our faces at the worst of all bad times?"   
Owen huffed, gave Sam another scowl and then said: "You can come and visit us all anytime you want."   
Joey just nodded.

~

Owen made a quiet miserable sound.   
"What's wrong?" Sam wanted to know and frowned with concern as Owen pressed a hand on his stomach.   
"Stomach ache," Owen replied, grimacing. Probably a fart was sitting crosswise, because despite the huge amount of purple root in the food, Sam didn't really mind, unlike Gavin, who sometimes made a lot of noise emitting his gut wind. On the other hand, he _did_ hear the call of Mother Nature - as a man, it was one thing to pee through bars, but the rest...

Sam leaned his head against the cage bars. On the leaves of the fruit trees and bushes the light of the beginning sunset started dancing, in the background Joey threw another tantrum. After the last one of this kind the witches had taken his cage out of sight and it had sounded earlier as if the cage had tipped over, but the two witches who had brought them dinner had been persistently silent.   
"He's going to hurt himself," Gavin said quietly, more to himself, and inwardly Sam agreed with him. He thought for a moment whether he could persuade Owen to act, but before he had come to a decision, three men stepped out from between the bushes.   
Well, the youngest was more of a teenager, but what caught Sam's attention was the fact that one was carrying his sword and another was carrying Rick's, which they had given to Emmett. The guy carrying Sam's sword was apparently the spokesman for the three, as he stepped forward and put his hands on his hips.   
"Okay, guys, we're going to let you out one at a time for five minutes. You may take a leak, stretch..."   
"How kind," grumbled Gavin. Still, he crawled out of the cage as its door swung open. With a relieved groan he stretched out and Sam exchanged a quick glance with Owen - Owen nodded - before saying:   
"Dude, do you know whose sword you're carrying?"   
The guy grinned. "Apparently yours. Is fancy, I like it."   
Sam grinned back. "Yeah, mine. I like it too, actually. But who am I?"   
"Don't listen to his bullshit, Wes," the teenager said, and the other guy growled:   
"Shut up, Troy."   
"Well, who are you?" Wes continued the conversation derisively.   
"Why don't you look at the forge sign and then give a hint?"   
Wes frowned, but drew the sword and held it better into the light. Stunned, he gasped. "The Royal Forge of Darkmoore!"   
"Wes! We're not supposed to talk to them," Troy said in annoyance, and then Sam was more than a little surprised when Wes nodded at his nameless sidekick who unceremoniously punched Troy with the knob of his dagger. At that moment, Gavin stepped out of the bushes again and went:  
"O-ha!"   
"You're in the Queen's Guard?" Wes wanted to know seriously and put the sword back into its sheath.   
"Close." Sam smiled wryly and Owen sighed.   
"No false modesty."   
Wes' body twitched before he asked softly: "King Samson...? And Sir Owen?"   
"And Prince Gavin," Gavin added, a little offended and leaned against his cage from the outside.   
Wes bowed deeply. "I'm terribly sorry..."   
"How about we talk without the annoying bars in between?" Owen suggested, but Wes hesitated.   
"Better not. Please, stick to the rules, then maybe we can help you."   
The three prisoners sighed, but agreed.

Crawling back into the cage was torture, Sam thought, but Wes and Rafe were right. Without a plan, two knights and an archer against thirty witches- young and old- definitely wouldn't come far. Maybe not even as far as Joey's.   
"They were supposed to hold the ritual today, but they're still waiting for the priestess," Wes explained in anxious haste.   
"What priestess?" Gavin immediately wanted to know skeptically.   
"A priestess from the Path of the Seven. A witch." The irritation on their faces must have spoken volumes, for Wes added: "I've been here for thirteen years now, and a few years before that they started cooperating. They trade young witches for young men."   
"Is easier to lure someone into a religious cult than to kidnap them," Rafe said bitterly.   
"So this priest witch is some kind of connection?" Sam followed up.   
"Yes and no." Wes shrugged. "She's not local, but I honestly have no idea what she's really about. I think she's using even her priestess role as some kind of a... disguise?"   
"Then why are they waiting for her?" Owen asked.   
Another shrug. "As I said, Wilhelmina and the others are waiting for this priestess, so you have time tonight to come up with a plan. We will bring you the weapons and some supplies." Wilhelmina was probably the leader of the witches.   
"Don't hesitate too long," said Rafe. "The witches are not to be trifled with."   
"We know, dude, we know," Owen murmured and Sam gave him a wry smile while Wes nodded cautiously. He had dropped the remark that he had originally been a Darkmoore soldier.   
"What about Troy?" Gavin then wanted to know, pointing to the unconscious boy.   
"He'll keep his mouth shut," Rafe assured him. "His problem if he provokes the redhead."   
"He saw that it was you," Owen remarked critically and Wes smiled humorlessly.   
"Not to worry. Even the boys here from the valley will learn one day that you don't just have to obey mom."   
Rafe nodded thoughtfully. "Emmett is staying with Troy and the other boys in the little house that's a little off to the side," he said slowly, looking at Wes with a frown. "But Emily is either with Wilhelmina or Marge at the house."   
"We'll find her," Sam said more confidently than he felt and promptly received skeptical looks from the others.   
Then Rafe leaned over to Wes and mumbled something to him, but Wes shook his head.   
"They sent it away," he murmured a little too loud.   
"Who?", Owen immediately asked suspiciously.   
"The... the shadow," Rafe said insecurely, fearfully.   
"Shadow?" Gavin echoed.   
"The shadow thing that picked us up?" Sam asked.   
"They call it a _demon_ ," Wes reluctantly said. "I don't know what it is, but its magic keeps the valley alive."   
"Huh?", Gavin made.   
"This demon exudes a certain magic that the plants and animals need. They tried it a few years ago without its help, but it almost ended in disaster. So they got twins for this fertility ritual. So they wouldn't need a demon anymore."   
"Apparently, it's quite tiring to summon one and keep one," Rafe said uneasily. "I'm glad it's gone."   
As king over a land full of witches, Sam had heard about quite a few strange things, but a _demon_ had never come along.   
"Don't wait too long," Wes said, nodding to them before giving Rafe a short pat on the shoulder. They pulled Troy to his feet and with one of his arms around each shoulder, they shuffled away.

~

That night, Sam was woken by Wes, who whispered to him where exactly they were going to find the stuff - basically right behind the next bush - and then after breakfast they spent most of the morning working out a plan.   
The discussion was interrupted when a woman approached, who was quite conspicuous by her dirty white priest robes. She seemed rather arrogant, the way she strolled along, and her mocking smile made Sam kind of angry. He swallowed a very rude remark and then she said:   
"I didn't think Trent would let you go looking for the twins."   
Any other remark that Sam could've come up with, fizzled out.   
"Excuse me?" Gavin said, stunned.   
"Sarah-Jane talked him into it, didn't she?" she asked.   
"Who are you and what's your part in this?" Owen was the first to find his tongue.   
"Sharon," she said, again with a mocking smile, "Sharon Sapphire."   
"Sharon died as a child," Sam said with a frown. He remembered it darkly. Shortly after the official engagement of Sarah-Jane and Trent, his much younger half-sister had been murdered.   
"No. In little Sharon, only the witch powers have awakened and she had to disappear for her education." Sharon grinned, almost insanely, and wagged her fingers in a meaningful way. "Because my mother kept it from my father that she was a witch. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have married her."   
"What are your dealings with the twins?" Owen repeated his question much more sharply than Sam would have asked it.   
She shrugged. "Trent wanted them gone just like I disappeared, so I took care of it."   
"Why would he want you to do that?" Gavin asked, confused.   
"Because he has a biological daughter who can inherit the title of the Sapphires."   
Sam had to laugh and got confused looks for it, but this conversation, despite its brevity, was already so absurd that he couldn't help it.   
"And what's so funny about that, Samson?" she asked angrily. Controlling his giggle with difficulty, he shook his head.   
"We can agree that you are Sharon, but..." - he chuckled again- "but this girl is certainly not _his_ daughter. Trent is as barren as a gelding."   
She frowned. "Pardon?"   
"Romy diagnosed them both," Sam said, already much more seriously. "Sarah-Jane could have had children, but Trent's semen was as dead as dried fish." Romy had told him afterwards and to be honest he wasn't sure if she had told Trent directly or just Sarah-Jane, but if Trent knew, it was a pretty daring move to exchange the adopted children for another "fake" one.   
But first of all it was Sharon who started to laugh. "Oh, Great Mother, that's good... wonderful, really..." She laughed until tears ran down her cheeks and Owen whispered:   
"Something seems to be going wrong in this family."   
"Definitely," Sam whispered back.   
"Oh, but what the fuck..." Sharon giggled. "The twins will be sacrificed, you three never leave this valley again, I get my reward and Trent gets his will. Glorious."   
"They'll be sacrificed?" Owen asked in horror, while Gavin said:   
"For sure we will leave this valley!"   
"Oh, of course they'll be sacrificed, don't be silly." Sharon shook her head seriously. "The magic in their blood will nourish the valley for a long time to come."   
Sam got sick. "Where does this magic come from?" He remembered Emmett telling about wizard rumors.   
"Father wizard, mother witch... Unless I'm completely wrong, Emmett has necromantic tendencies, but I think that's yet to mature." She shrugged.   
"The daughters of witches are usually witches too," Sam remarked critically. Sharon talked- and he wanted it to stay that way.   
"The first daughter definitely, but I doubt if these were the first children of this woman..." She twitched her brows in a meaningful way. "Anyway"- so much for Sam's plan- "I might stop by again in a few years. Just to see how you guys are doing." She winked at them and with an amused laugh she strode off.   
Sam was a little speechless and still the first one to say anything: "Trent has _sold_ them?"   
"Looks that way," Owen growled.   
"What a son of a bitch! I never liked that guy at all," Gavin exclaimed, hitting pretty much pointlessly against a cage bar.   
They should never have found the twins. Should never have found the dragon who kidnapped them. If said dragon hadn't kept Emmett, the twins would have been dead by now.   
What Trent had done... Sam had no words. He really thought he was dealing with a worried father. But on the other hand, Trent had said he would sacrifice them all to hold a child by his blood. Which led to the assumption that he really didn't know about his infertility, but why would Sarah-Jane- given the case that Romy had only told her about it- keep that to herself? Because she wanted to place a cuckoo child under his nose?   
Sam spun the mental thread further and further, and no matter how he twisted and turned the matter around, neither his sister nor his brother-in-law got off lightly.

~

After an intensely mutton-flavored stew for lunch, Sam blurted out: "Owen, we have to get out of here."   
"I know. Give me the necklace." He reached out and Sam looked a little worried because Owen was trembling. The redhead tied the leather band around his wrist and then rolled the sleeves over it.   
"Have you ever-"   
"No. Ellie once gave Henry magic stones, but it ended in disaster."   
"Okay, um..."   
"Give me five minutes to get a feel for it."   
Sam nodded and Owen closed his eyes in concentration, Gavin had frowned skeptically, but said nothing.

But the minutes dragged on and despite Sam's help Owen didn't really manage to grasp the magic. He looked like he was meditating, but sweat was on his forehead and Sam could feel the somehow helpless twitching of Romy’s magic, while the long minutes turned into longer hours.

Polyphonic giggles ripped Sam out of his doze and he looked up. Five young women came closer, one of them holding something as if it were a fragile treasure.   
"This doesn't look like dinner," Gavin remarked cautiously.   
"No," Sam agreed with him.   
"Owen, we've got company," Gavin said, and Owen growled wordlessly. One of the women stepped forward and smiled at Sam as if he belonged to her; he didn't like that kind of look, not even from Romy.   
"Come on," she said, and his cage opened. He hesitated for a moment, but resistance would only make matters worse.   
"What is this all about?," he wanted to know and straightened up.   
"Sharon said we should make it clear as quickly as possible that you belong to us," said another, and a third added:   
"Wilhelmina has allowed us to share you."   
"Ew," Gavin did in the background, while Sam got slightly nauseous. The fragile treasure that one of the witches had been carrying turned out to be a cup with foam-crowned contents- most likely _not_ beer-and Sam accepted it. The five of them smiled at him expectantly.   
_Romy..._   
He concentrated on the feeling of the ring around his testicles.   
_Romy!_   
"I was already a ritual knight. I am still bound to my witch," he said. Owen needed more time - but how much and how much of that could Sam get him?   
"We know," was the laconic answer. "But your witch is far away and cannot protect you."   
"Drink."   
He lifted the cup to his lips and gave Gavin a quick glance- he had already gone pale and nodded. "It's your responsibility," Sam murmured, and because he felt the witches' impatience and truly did not want to mess with them, he drowned the aphrodisiac. They would have forced it on him anyway and his cooperation saved him at least a few bruises. The taste reminded him of bitter honey, but the stuff burned from the tip of his tongue to his stomach like hard alcohol.   
He returned the cup, had to burp, and then an uncomfortable warmth was already spreading inside him. He blinked a little insecurely - should this really happen so quickly? He burped again and his limbs became heavy, while his dick suddenly felt as if it wanted to break its carnal chains. For a moment he saw double and blinked frantically.   
"Lie down!"   
"Meggie, you made it too strong!"   
"I did not! I followed Trixie's instructions!"   
Sam's eyes closed and hands reached for him, laid him down in the grass, which he hardly felt under his fingertips because his body was getting strangely numb.   
"Owen! Do something," shouted Gavin in the background, barely audible above the excited chatter of the witches.   
"His pants, come on!" Fingers tugged at him, pushed on him, cool hands resting on his thighs, his hips.   
"He's wearing a ring!"   
"Who cares?"   
"No, look! It's a heart ring!"   
"Damn it!"   
"Can we take it off?"   
"Without ripping his balls off? Difficult."   
"Isolate the ring. Put some air around it, like you're padding a wound."   
The witches argued, and Sam moaned softly in pain as a tremendous pressure was suddenly exerted on his balls.   
_Romy..._   
"Sam!" That was Gavin, and he sounded almost hysterical, but Sam couldn't really think about it, because somewhere deep inside he heard a scream.   
It was Romy screaming. In rage and in pain and then she was suddenly gone. Gone, as if the special bond between a witch and her True Knight had never existed.   
Dull and as if from far away, Sam heard voices and he was darkly aware of what the owners of the voices were about to do, but he didn't care.   
His witch had left him.


	13. Unfortunately, life is full of bitter truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A talk with Emmett...  
> ... and Trent.

Sam looked into Owen's face, saw the fine lines around his eyes, the small scar right next to his nose and the drop of blood running down his temple. The drop passed by the eye, the cheekbone, and reached the beard, where it recolored a white hair.   
"Sam!"   
Sam blinked and then groaned as Owen pulled him almost roughly to his feet.   
"Great Mother, move!"   
He was nauseous and dizzy, his ears were booming and the screaming and shouting and roaring didn't make it any better. "Owen..."   
"Present..." Owen murmured something more Sam didn't understand and then bent down to pull up Sam's pants. "Couldn't your son have shown up a few minutes earlier?" he growled as he tied the strings.   
"Rick?"   
"Do you have any other sons who can shift into dragons?" Owen was not in a joking mood and Sam rubbed his forehead as he looked around. There was an astonishing amount of blood on the grass - was there a cut off finger?-, the witches had disappeared and smoke was rising from the village.   
"Okay, here's your sword." Gavin came up from the side and handed Sam said sword while he held Owen's sword out to him.   
"What happened?" Sam wanted to know and wrapped the sword belt around his hips; his muscles still felt a little soft.   
"Your heart ring blew off the hand of one of the witches - don't worry, you are in one piece."   
Memories of Isaac rose to the back of Sam's head and he pushed them away in a hurry.   
"And then, admittedly, everything happened at once," Gavin said, sounding a little critical. "Rick showed up, grabbed some witches and disappeared again, while Owen apparently mastered the magic and was able to open his cage."   
" _Where_ did Rick disappear to?" Sam asked a little confused, because he could hear a dragon's roar but couldn't see him.   
"That's-"   
"There!" Owen pointed towards the village where Rick and Joey were rising up side by side and spitting fire downwards.   
"I sure hope they're not roasting someone important," Gavin murmured, then stepped up to Sam to take the anti-magic collar off him.   
"Us, for example?" Owen asked and moved on.   
"For example," confirmed Gavin, threw the leather collar away, and Sam nodded thankfully at him. "And besides, I would be very happy if we could get the twins out of here _alive_."   
"With all the magic the witches are using against the dragons right now, it would be a miracle if there _wasn't_ any collateral damage," Sam gloomily pointed out and stumbled over a branch, surprised by the sight of Joey's cage that had been torn apart with brute force.   
"Dragons are fortunately quite resilient when it comes to magic," Owen said, and then they stopped as if rooted when Rick threw a witch high into the air. "What the...?"   
Her screeching could be heard even over the general cacophony and broke off when Joey's tail whipped through the air, tearing the human body in two as if it were a rag doll. Suddenly it became silent - apart from the crackling of fire somewhere - and you could clearly hear one half of the body hitting the ground and the other half probably on one of the roofs. The angry screaming resumed, but Sam's nausea came back with full force and he threw up; two meters beside him, Gavin did the same.   
"Oh Great Mother..." Owen murmured in horror.

Panting, Sam wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "After all, they are a distraction. Let's go find the twins."   
Gavin moaned his approval and Sam grabbed him supportively by the arm. Parts of the gardens and fields were in flames and they searched for a way to the village, while Rick and Joey continued to tear witches apart in the air as if it were a game. But was that really Rick up there, or was it not rather the dragon side of him that ran amok in pubertal confusion?   
"Whew!" Owen did and stumbled backwards against Sam, who grabbed him hastily by the shoulder.   
"Emmett!," Gavin called out in relief, but Emmett sobbed. A wreath of flowers sat crooked on his head, and he looked as if he had been standing in bloody rain- not quite far off the truth, considering the dragons playing.   
"Emily... She was there a second ago, and now she's gone..."   
"Okay, relax, we'll find her," Owen said, and Sam nodded.   
"Where did you lose her?"   
"Near the well, I think, but-" Emmett broke off when Rick suddenly roared up and turned away unexpectedly.   
"What's wrong with him?" Gavin wanted to know.   
"Maybe he got enough magic that it hurts now," Sam surmised, looking at Owen, who worriedly grimaced and then released one of his dragon trills.   
"Do you think it'll help?" Gavin looked skeptical, but got no answer, for Rick was rushing toward the village, deep enough to smash the houses to rubble with his claws and tail.   
"Emily!," Emmett shouted in horror and tried to rush off, but Owen held him by his shirt.   
"Great Mother..." Gavin murmured soundlessly, but Sam had a very different thought.   
"Emily! Emmett's right! Owen, the spell they put on Emily - what if it works on Rick, too?"   
Instead of an answer, Owen went pale and then they stormed off together.

They didn't get far, though, partly because of the debris lying around, and partly because Joey's newly spat flames hindered them.   
"Shit," Sam cursed and turned around hastily as Gavin yelled _"oooooh-fuck!"._ Sam's field of vision was filled with golden scales and before he knew it, huge dragon claws tore him off his feet and up into the air.   
"Father...", Rick rumbled and sounded almost triumphant. Sam clung on to his claws and tried to find a position where he didn't have to be afraid to fall at any moment, when suddenly Emily screamed wildly in Rick's second claw. Rick yelled something in dragon language to Joey and shot away.   
"Emily! Emily, calm down," Sam shouted against the flying wind. "Emily! Emily, look at me! Do you remember me? Uncle Sam from Whitehill?"   
She stopped screaming and even looked at him, but was obviously in shock.   
"The dragon here"- Sam patted the dragon claws- "is your cousin Rick, okay? We're here with Uncle Gavin and Uncle Owen and Joey to take you and Emmett home. Okay? You hear me, Emily? Emily?"   
Instead of an answer, her eyes first got big, then she apparently fainted.   
"Rick!"   
"Yes?"   
"Emily fainted! Where are the others?"   
"Joey has Gavin and Emmett on his back and Owen in his claw," Rick replied after a moment in which he must have looked around.   
"Let Joey fly ahead."   
"All right." Rick shouted something to Joey, and then the dark dragon passed them by, Owen waving to Sam with an almost mocking grin. "Dad?"   
"Yeah?"   
"Sorry I just left."   
"It's okay..."   
"No, it's not. And Mom was terribly angry."   
At the thought of Romy, Sam's chest ached, seemed to curl up around a dark void. "It's okay," he repeated muffled. "You're here now."

~

During the short flight to the small cave with their belongings, Sam tried in vain to bring order to the chaos reigning in his head - and it was certainly not only due to the little time he had.   
"Into the cave," Owen ordered in Rick's direction almost immediately after he landed and handed Sam his magic necklace. "Look at Emily," Owen murmured to Sam, who nodded.   
Emily lay unconscious on the edge of the small ledge and Sam knelt down beside her while Rick protested and Emmett crouched down at her other side to take her hand.   
"She's gonna be okay, isn't she?"   
"For sure," Gavin said seriously, and Sam searched for the spell that was on her. The fact that Owen was in the background loudly discussing with Rick and Joey which dragon would carry which passengers and which flight routes would be the best was really not helpful.   
"What are you doing?" Emmett asked quietly.   
"The witches have put a charm spell on her to-"   
"Yes, I know." He blushed a little. "But it crumbled when the dragons came. I think it was overused."   
Sam snorted, half incredulous, half amused. "Well, all the better." He nodded at Emmett and straightened up to join the discussion, which now included Gavin.   
"Your sense of direction is lousy below any level, Gavin, so-"   
"Excuse me, but I've been studying the cult for a long time, and I know which valleys they live in." Gavin glared indignantly at Owen. "If we head hard west after the passage, we should be able to avoid most valleys easily."   
"That will be difficult," Rick interjected, and Joey, too, seemed skeptical, but remained silent.   
"How far will we get today?" Sam wanted to know and Owen sighed.   
"The passage to the southwest Rick refers to certainly has a few caves."   
"Better not," Emmett let himself be heard and ducked his head a little as everyone turned to him. "I heard of a connecting tunnel going directly south, crossing an east-west passage."   
"Oh, lovely," Gavin sighed and Sam frowned.   
"I'll simply repeat my question: how much further can we go today?"  
"We won't make the passage completely before dark." Rick shook his head. "Behind the passage, however, there is a plateau, if I have seen it correctly. Someone without wings shouldn't be able to get up there."   
Joey nodded thoughtfully. "The alternative would be to fly east, but we want to bring the twins home after all..." He sounded a little bit melancholy and demonstratively looked at the wall rather than Emmett.   
"All right, that's settled." Owen didn't seem too happy, but he nodded encouragingly into the round.

Sam climbed on Rick's back and then helped Emily up, who reacted dazed only to Emmett's voice and shied away from Sam's touch.   
"Hey... Rick?"   
Rick's claw, in which he held Emmett to set him down right on his shoulder, paused. "Hmm?"   
"Thanks."   
Rick actually allowed Emmett to gently pat him on the snout before he put him down on his back. Immediately, Emily snuggled up to him and Sam nodded at him before he shouted:   
"We can go!"   
Joey was already with Owen and Gavin waiting in the air; Sam's stomach bounced as Rick made a leap.

Except for the sound of the wind and the flapping of dragon wings, it was quiet. Sam twisted and turned the possibilities of Romy's disappearance back and forth, ending up more than once with the magical backfire of Isaac's simple guard ring, praying that everything was actually alright and that the witches had simply screwed something up.

~

Sam woke up feeling bad. Everything hurt and a certain subliminal nausea made him sit up. Blinking, he realized that he could not have slept for long, because the moon above their half-open camp had not moved very far. With a sigh, he reached for the water hose and slowly drank a few sips to calm his grumbling stomach- and paused when he noticed that three places to sleep were empty.   
Emmett, Emily and Rick. After everything that had happened, this was not a good sign, so he got up.   
Joey slept as a human, Gavin lay half on top of Owen as usual.   
Slowly, Sam walked past them and looked around; the silence wasn't comfortable. And then he stopped when he saw Emmett crouching on a flat, large stone, his chin resting in his hands.   
"Hey," Sam said softly, and Emmett looked up, "Is everything all right?"   
Emmett nodded unconvincingly and Sam sat down next to him; almost immediately the boy leaned against him and he put an arm around his shoulders.   
"Well, if everything's okay, how about telling me why you made such a face when I told you about your mom's letter?"   
Emmett made a weird sound somewhere between snorting and laughing. "What do you want to hear now?" he asked quietly and strangely tired.   
"Your part of the truth."   
Emmett turned half away, and Sam let go of him, patiently watching Emmett struggle with himself, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. Finally, he took a deep breath.   
"My father... my biological father... is really a wizard. His name is Marcus, and he is Sarah's lover."   
For a brief moment, Sam was confused until he realized that Emmett meant his mother. His mom. Sarah-Jane. He had a vague fear that things would get complicated.   
"I've heard them argue a lot over the years, you know. About Emily and me or... our mother. A witch." Emmett paused, and when he continued, he sounded bitter. "Do you know how many times it was about money? My real mother's a whore, Sam. She sold first her body, then her children, then her silence. They discussed how her whoring soiled her magic, how she tried to purify herself and in doing so sullied her unborn children. They talked about sending me away because I carry dirty magic inside me."   
The necromantic tendencies mentioned by Sharon probably, Sam thought, but said nothing.   
"When you said the cue was witches, I thought Sarah meant _her_." Emmett laughed without humor. "And then Sharon showed up."   
"You know Sharon?"   
" _You_ know Sharon?" Emmett repeated the question and Sam shrugged.   
"Not really. As far as I know, Sharon is Trent's half-sister and died as a child, but she said it was faked because her witchcraft was awakening."   
"She is a priestess from the Path of the Seven and... Trent's mistress."   
"So either she lied to me, or-"   
"Save your breath, it doesn't matter." Emmett waved it off. "I wish I'd been adopted by poor farmers. They may not know how to write _love_ , but they might know how to live it."   
Sam hugged the boy again, but before he could find words, Emmett began to sob.   
"I don't want to go home, Sam." And he didn't even know what Trent had really done.   
"I know. I understand."   
"Please... I don't want to go back..."

Sam held his nephew while he cried quietly and gently stroked his hair. Finally he asked: "Does Emily know about this?"   
"No." Emmett sniffed. "I've tried several times to tell her but she doesn't want to know. She doesn't care." Again he sounded bitter. "She's too busy turning young men's heads."   
"Is that such a bad thing?" Sam asked carefully.   
"Great Mother, please forgive me," Emmett murmured before saying: "She's a bitch, Sam. She's pretty and she knows it and she uses her name any way she can. Why do you think she went after Garett like that?"   
"Um-"   
"Because the mountainous Sapphire region is too boring for her, and she could become queen at Garett's side," Emmett continued, without even giving Sam time for a real response. "Why do you think she's talking to Rick right now?"   
"Because-"   
"Although I'll bet they're exchanging more than just polite words at this moment."   
Sam blinked, caught a little off guard. The bitterness in Emmett's words hurt just from listening and was strong enough to completely cover up any possible jealousy. "And you're sure everything's okay?," Sam asked, because he really couldn't think of anything better to say.   
In response, Emmett laughed shakily and then started trembling all over his body like a leaf.   
Nervous breakdown, Sam thought, and pulled him close again. "Maybe you should go to Joey and ask him for a comforting hug. He's worried about you."   
"I know." Whispered Emmett in Sam's shirt. "But I don't want Joey."   
"I'm not talking about any sexual stuff, but a hug between friends."   
"Hmm." It took him a moment to add: "Maybe you're right."   
Sam gave him an encouraging smile and he sniffed quietly.   
"I love my sister... I... I really care about Emily. But her going straight off with Rick... that was one step too far." He wiped his cheeks and stood up; Sam stood up, too.   
"You don't have to-"   
"Thanks, Sam." Emmett smiled weakly and walked away staggeringly. Somehow, Sam felt that Emmett was deliberately rejecting all family ties and he decided to discuss this with Owen and Gavin. The boy needed a support before the pressure of events really broke him down.

But first, Sam walked across the plateau to a rocky outcrop, and see, over the gentle rustle of the wind, kissing sounds could be heard. Intense kissing sounds. Emmett had been right.   
Emily muttered something and then Rick suddenly protested.   
"Wait. Wait!"   
"What?"   
"Stop."   
"But-"   
"I don't want this."   
"Earlier, you said yes."   
"I said yes to kissing you, but it wasn't general authorization."  
Sam couldn't help smiling.   
"Okay." Emily sounded offended. "Okay, suit yourself." Seconds later, footsteps could be heard, but Emily apparently disappeared on the other side of the rocks.   
Rick sighed deeply.   
Sam carefully peered around the rocks and saw Rick sorting his clothes. "You know-"   
"Ah! Great Mother Earth! Dad!"   
"- someone once advised me to marry a virgin. They'd complain less."   
Rick tied his pants and snorted. "And who said that?"   
"I'd rather keep it to myself." Sam was still grinning. It had been a drunken mercenary, commenting on Sam's heated discussion with a female innkeeper.   
Rick snorted again. "There is no other comment?" he then wanted to know skeptically, and Sam shrugged.   
"What do you want me to say? You said no, and that's good."   
"Hmm." Now Rick nodded and adjusted his privates in his pants.   
"You could offer Emmett a comforting hug," Sam then said and Rick frowned.   
"What happened?"   
"A lot has happened lately, don't you think?"   
"Oh. Yeah. Sure. Okay, um..." He hesitated, then he set himself in motion.   
Sam looked after him and sighed. The journey back to the Sapphires would be uncomfortable.

~

Sam landed and expelled uncontrolled a cloud of smoke in relief. The flight had only been short, but had strained his shoulder. Since they didn't want Joey to attract aggressive attention, Rick had flown most of the time- also because the harness fit him better- but he wasn't too happy with the resulting nudity for the transformations and the awkward dressing in a courtyard of a busy castle, well, he could do without. Sam could understand him.

The others got down, helped him with the harness and when he shifted, Sarah-Jane came running into the yard.   
"Mom!" Emily ran toward her with waving skirts and threw herself into her arms; Emmett followed her hesitantly.   
"Oh, Emily! Emily! You're back! Emmett, come here. Let me look at you."   
Visibly reluctant, Emmett let the probing gaze and the firm embrace pass over him, smiling at his mother only a little.   
Sam nodded at Gavin and together they walked toward Sarah-Jane while Owen, Rick, and Joey remained in the background.   
"Where is Trent?" Sam wanted to know straight out and Sarah-Jane looked at him, obviously irritated by his tone of voice.   
"In his study. He fell this morning and probably broke his ankle."   
_Why not the neck?_ , thought Sam, while Gavin said seriously, but with a polite smile:   
"We have to talk. Without the children."   
"All right." Sarah-Jane nodded, a little taken aback, and Emmett grimaced, while Emily put on a face that they had generally called 'the mask'.   
"Mom, can I ask for a bath before dinner or should I wait?"   
"Oh, dear, don't worry. You can ask for a bath whenever you like." Sarah-Jane's smile at her daughter also resembled a mask for the moment.   
"Thank you." Emily hurried away and Emmett nodded to Sam before going back to the others, causing a deep frown on Sarah-Jane's face.

Trent had his foot resting on a padded stool and visible bruises on his face; it seemed like there was a thick bandage around the elbow under the left sleeve. "Sam, Gavin." His inviting smile flickered as Sarah-Jane closed the door and stopped right there, showing a worried look.   
Surely someone had immediately run to inform the lord of the return of his children, and Sam watched for a moment Trent's strange facial expressions which could not be attributed solely to the possible pain and painkillers.   
"It's all right, isn't it?" Trent finally asked slowly and Sam shook his head.   
"Two names, Trent, two names."   
Trent frowned.   
"Sharon. Marcus."   
Trent turned pale while Sarah-Jane blushed violently, but they didn't look at each other. They were given a moment to get their thoughts in order before Gavin said:   
"Trent, listen. Threehills, Whitehill, and Darkmoore offer to continue Emmett's education, or Emmett and Emily together."   
"Why?" Sarah-Jane asked before Gavin finished.   
"The education for a future king can't do harm to a future lord or lady. But Emmett would also love to study at the Dragon Academy or simply finish his education with Rick."   
Sam had no idea how Gavin could stay so calm.   
"Emily could find a... suitable husband in one of the royal courts."   
Sarah-Jane nibbled at her dress and seemed not entirely unwilling, but Trent shook his head violently.   
"No."   
"Why not?" Sam asked coolly.   
"The children stay here."   
"Ah. Yes. _Your children_." Sam smiled joylessly, more like a grimace, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "The twins are the _only_ children you have, Trent," he said very emphatically, so that hopefully Trent understood what Sam was trying to say, "and _they_ are your heirs. So you should really want the best for them."   
"The twins stay on Sapphire soil. They've been gone long enough."   
For a moment, Sam pressed his lips together and in return got angry looks from Trent. "Pray that Lady Winter will be truly merciful, because if anything happens to your children, there are some people around who would find this _most distressing_."   
Upset, Trent bent over, obviously even more annoyed by the fact that he was bound to his chair. "You cannot order me to send the twins away, Sam, you are _not my King_. And now I respectfully ask you to leave my home."   
Sam slowly expelled the air, almost wishing he could emit angry smoke even as a human, and then turned to Gavin. "Maybe we should just snatch Emmett and fly away."   
Gavin sighed and everything about him spoke of disappointment. "Killing Trent first would save us a lot of trouble."   
"Do you really want to start a war?" Trent asked, and the quiet sneer in his voice made Sam furious within seconds.   
"Listen to me, you son of a bitch-"   
"Sam, stop it." Gavin grabbed him by the arm. "He's not worth it."   
"But the twins are worth it. They deserve better parents."   
"Sam, please..."   
Sam broke free and stormed out. Had Trent been King of Rockvalley, Sam would have spat at his feet and declared war on him, but under the given circumstances he didn't. Fighting the Oakshields was rarely a good idea, and the feisty Redthornes were enough for him as neighbors and relatives.

"We're leaving!" he shouted loudly as he stepped into the yard. His face seemed to say enough, as Emmett's shoulders slumped down.   
"But... but, Dad, I wanted... can't I..." Rick was a little taken by surprise.   
Owen sighed deeply. "I had a hunch."   
Gavin didn't say anything, but his face also clearly betrayed his opinion.   
Joey stepped nervously from one foot to the other, but didn't dare say anything. Instead, Rick stepped towards Sam, who had already reached the middle of the yard.   
"Dad, wait. Can I... can I stay for the night? Say goodbye?" He flinched a little under Sam's gloomy gaze.   
"Why not?" Owen answered in Sam's place, and immediately Rick turned around.   
"Aunt Sarah-Jane, can I stay for the night?"   
"Of course. You are always welcome, Rick," she replied tense. Sam hadn't even noticed that she had stepped into the yard as well.   
"You come to us first thing in the morning, you understand? We're going home," he said sharply.   
"Of course, Dad."   
Sam wasn't sure how much he really knew, but it couldn't be everything or he wouldn't have been so calm.   
"Sam..." Sarah-Jane began cautiously, but Sam turned away demonstratively.   
"Farewell, Lady Sapphire." He stepped forward and shifted, almost immediately reaching for the harness. Sarah-Jane's words were little more than a whisper.   
"...farewell."

~

"Sit down, Sam. Your running around is turning everybody nuts," Owen said surprisingly gently.   
"I'm angry, Owen!"   
"We know," Gavin said. He sounded tired, but actually he was just deeply disappointed - the anger he had already left behind. "But unfortunately, Trent was right. You know what an ugly war this would make."   
"Of course I know that," Sam hissed at him and still paused, tugging his hair. "Great Mother, what a fucking mess!"   
Owen sighed, got up and then used gentle force to make Sam sit down. "The twins will soon be eighteen and-"   
"That means they'll be more than three years-"   
"Sam! Damn it, enough already."   
He knew Owen well enough to shut his mouth, but the resulting silence weighed heavily. His eyes fell on Joey, who sat shoulder to shoulder with Gavin, staring sadly into the flames of the small campfire. He had been tenderly taking care of Emmett for the past few days and hadn't even been asked to stay. Sam actually took pity on the young dragon.

"Ginny's gonna freak out," Gavin said after a while.   
"She can join forces with Romy," Sam muttered. Owen remarked something about a witch's revenge, but Sam didn't quite catch it.   
Rick hadn't been able to reach Romy and that worried him more than he really wanted to admit. But now it was only a week until he was back home with his wife and kids, with proper food and a hot bath and a soft bed.

Owen squeezed his hand and he noticed he was trembling. He was afraid to find out what had happened to Romy when the magic of the heart ring had fought back. Whether she just magically had left him... or for real.

One more week. Just one more week. He missed Romy. He was worried.   
Owen pulled him closer and he sighed, knowing that it would do him good to let himself fall into Owen's arms now, but he also knew that he couldn't do it. He wanted to know what had happened at home.

Another damn week.


	14. Just because you're not at home doesn't mean time stands still there

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a surprise waiting at home...

"Would you really have started a war?"   
"Yes."   
"Why? War is terrible."   
"Said the knight-to-be. No, honestly? It's something parents should do for their children, especially if the law says they're actually children."   
"What, start a war?"   
"No. When in doubt, sacrifice everything you have. To protect one's own children."   
"Would you really do that? Sacrifice everything, I mean. Your land, your life..."   
"Yeah. I wouldn't be the first or the last person to do so, you know, so..."   
"I know, Dad, I know... but it just feels wrong."   
"From a child's perspective? Yeah, kind of. But once you have kids of your own, you'll know what I mean."   
"Hmm..."

They stared into the flames while an early night bird began its song in the background. The rustling and snorting of a wild boar came closer and disappeared again.   
"The fascinating thing is that Owen would do the same for us, even though we're not even related to him," Rick then stated, but looked questioningly at Sam, who nodded with a smile.   
"He would."   
"Don't you think he deserves a reward just for this attitude of thought? Certain other things aside."   
Sam raised an eyebrow, but skipped the side swipe. "What exactly do you mean? He could get anything he wanted from Gavin and me."   
"If he _asked_ for it, sure. But what about a title?" Thoughtfully, Rick tilted his head and Sam leaned back with a huff.   
"A title of nobility? Owen's from Threehills and officially a Knight of Darkmoore, so I don't even know if I _could_ ennoble him. Leaving aside the fact that he'd kill me just for trying."   
"Oh, bullshit. And I'm not even talking about a lord's seat."   
"What else?" Now, Sam was actually both irritated and curious.   
"The Cherrywoods and Redblossoms have been arguing about Hillside for ages. You could just give the place a new earl and subordinate it directly to the crown."   
Sam opened his mouth without a word while Rick started to grin.   
"What do you say?" This actually had some interesting advantages, even if the other nobles might react a bit miffed at first.   
"An interesting suggestion."  
"It's magnificent, Dad."   
"When did you get so cocky?"   
Rick's grin grew a little more before it shrunk into a smile. "Garett and I discussed it over the winter. He's got some really good ideas about politics. And he didn't get that from Gavin."   
"From his grandfather."   
Rick's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "Threehills, Whitehill and Darkmoore could accomplish so much together."   
"Are you suggesting that I take just the reign for you? Should your mum abdicate in Valerie's interest, so that the three of you can turn the Eastern Kingdoms upside down?"   
Rick laughed. "Great Mother, no." But then he presented Sam with a whole range of interesting approaches and ideas.

"You're a little too intelligent for me, young man," Sam commented later with an affectionate grin.   
"I got it all from Mommy and Daddy."   
Laughing, Sam shook his head and Rick asked:   
"Are you going to ennoble Owen?"   
"I probably will." Sam nodded thoughtfully. "He deserves it." He watched Rick tear up a blade of grass with a satisfied smile. "Speaking of Owen... how did you know he is Jon's father?"   
"Oh..." Rick seemed surprised. "It's a... it's a dragon thing. Joey said it helps prevent inbreeding, but compared to what he described, my ability is a joke."   
"That doesn't help me much right now."   
"Well..." A little helpless and looking for words Rick rubbed his neck. "I can see some kind of connection... I don't know how to describe it. But Jon and Owen definitely belong together." And then he made the face in uncertainty. "Um... Dad... Uncle Gordon..."   
"Sylvia?," Sam suggested, and with clear surprise on his face, Rick nodded.   
"You know?"   
"Well, I suspected it." A little unhappy he grimaced and of course Rick asked the logical next question.   
"Do you know who her father is?"   
"I have my suspicions," Sam replied cautiously, lowering his gaze.   
"I don't know," Rick admitted. "Joey said maybe it's because she's not related to me, but she looks weird with that dragon sense." Well, maybe Sam was wrong, too, and it wasn't Gerald who had put a cuckoo's egg in his own son's nest. But since these were generally dangerous waters, he preferred to change the subject.   
"How are things with you and Joey?"   
"We are... allies," Rick replied reluctantly, as if the statement was already daring.   
"He was pretty down about not being invited to the sleepover." It was certainly not meant to be an accusation, but it still sounded like one, and Rick lowered his eyes.   
"One of the things Emmett and I were talking about. Joey is too... pressing. Possessive."   
"Joey's very reserved in my eyes, and secondly, he really cares about Emmett."   
"I know, but that's Emmett's business, isn't it?" For a moment they looked at each other before Sam nodded. And then there was another moment of silence before Rick suddenly came over and leaned against him.   
"I gave Emmett back the kiss."   
"Hmm?"   
"You know... the kiss that I yelled at him for."   
"Ah, _that_ kiss. Okay. And?"   
Rick indicated a shrug and blushed. "I like his kisses," he very quietly admitted. "But I would like him more if he were a girl."   
Sam laughed softly and put an arm around his shoulders. "Both have their merits."   
_"Dad..."_   
"I love you too."   
Rick sighed and leaned his head against his shoulder. A few times he tried to say something, but he didn't, and made himself comfortable in Sam's embrace instead. And when Sam made up his mind to protest for his own comfort, Rick's slow breathing showed that he had fallen asleep.

_Rick cried._   
_He was crying and Sam had no idea why, but Diana was busy with Valerie, who was having a terrible tantrum, and Romy was too preoccupied with herself and Matt so soon after the birth. So Sam tried to calm down his son, but his own restlessness grew - partly because of the crying child and partly because of the upcoming council meeting. Fittingly, there was a knock and a young servant stepped in and bowed deeply._   
_"Your Highness, the King and his Council are waiting only for you."_   
_Sam sighed deeply and nodded to him before turning to Rick. "Daddy has to-"_   
_"Noooo!" Rick shrieked and wrapped his little arms around Sam's neck as tightly as he could._   
_"Urgh. Rick, please."_   
_"Daaaddy!" Rick's crying took on a new tone and Sam gave up before it was too late - he knew this piercing howl from Valerie._   
_"All right," he growled, grabbed his document folder and stomped through the castle with his son in his arms._   
_"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," he said as dignified as he could, while Rick suddenly became silent and raised his head- a snotty thread gracefully connected his nose to Sam's shoulder._   
_Lady Greyrift's eyes grew wide in admiration while Lord Foxglove asked:_   
_"Isn't the prince a little young to be taking part in this?"_   
_"You can never start too early to get educated." Whoever said that didn't quite catch Sam's eye, but he didn't care either, because there were enough disapproving looks that immediately made his mood a good deal worse._   
_"My hope is," he said sourly and dropped his folder on the table, "that this meeting will be as soporific as usual."_   
_Lord Sunflower's booming laughter made Rick wince. "May we place bets which prince will sleep first?" The old lord had eight children of his own and by now three dozen grandchildren, and Sam gave him a thin smile._   
_"I bet on my son," Gerald said with a grin and Sam rolled his eyes._   
_"I can see I'm being passed over in the line of succession."_   
_Fittingly, Rick made a joyous squeak._

~

His shoulder hurt, but he ignored it, because in return he got the exhilarating feeling of flying with Rick by his side. They whizzed through the air, romped around and then Sam paused in bewilderment when he heard loud bells ringing. It was quite a discordant sound, but Rick laughed rumbling.   
"What an interesting way to welcome us."   
Questioningly, Sam tilted his head; he hadn't expected to reach Feather Springs yet.  
"Those are the alarm bells _and_ the church bells," said Rick and dived down.   
Sam sighed inwardly and followed him, taking a turn around the castle as Rick shot across the town, and then they landed almost simultaneously in the large castle courtyard.   
"Dad!" Sammy came running into the courtyard, followed by Valerie, who for some reason was actually wearing a dress.   
Sam shifted and hugged Sammy; Rick, who had found a way to shift without taking off the harness before, followed suit.   
"Whew! Val! Stop it," he moaned almost immediately.   
"Oh Great Mother, Rick! That was a _fantastic_ sight!"   
"Val, would you please let go of me?" The naked Rick pushed his sister away and both of them blushed, with Rick taking on a cherry-red tone up to his chest when Sammy remarked:   
"You've grown."   
Sam smiled. "I warned you." He received a kiss on the cheek from Valerie and asked: "Where's your-"   
Romy fell around his neck and he hugged her so tightly that her ribs cracked. "Great Mother Earth, Sam, I was worried," she said in a trembling voice.   
"Me too," Sam assured her. "I missed you." Her scent of vanilla and winter spices was like healing magic, and the general relief of being home again and holding her in his arms brought tears to his eyes. However, the hug broke apart as Valerie sighed longingly and Sammy made "ew".   
"The twins are back home," Rick said into the somewhat embarrassing silence and Sam saw that he had pulled a pair of pants out of his luggage by now.   
"Good." Romy smiled affectionately at her son, kissed him on the forehead and then took Sam's hand. "I'll take a look at your shoulder and then we'll talk."   
Sam smiled and nodded while Rick started to grin silly.   
"Not _that_ kind of talk, Rick." He got a slap on the back of his head from Valerie and Sammy giggled.

~

With tears of pain in his eyes and gasping for air, Sam let himself fall onto the sofa. "Holy crap, couldn't you at least have used Earth magic?" The healing pain pulsed down his back and up into the back of his head, but his shoulder was like a new one.   
Romy sat down next to him. "For self-protective purposes, I'm a little limited at the moment." She lowered her eyes to her hand, which she rubbed with a slightly contorted face.   
"What-" He paused. A finger was missing from the right hand. The ring finger where she had worn her part of the heart ring. "What the...?" Carefully he took her hand, looked at the clean stump and then looked directly at her. "Dear, what...?"   
"I would rather lose a finger than rob you of your testicles," she said with a weak smile.   
_"What?"_   
"You know what powerful magic is embedded in the heart rings. You can't just take them off. What the witches- it was the witches, wasn't it?- tried to do would probably have killed you. So I broke the connection."   
"But, Romy, you... your hand..."   
"Shhh..." She pulled back said hand and put it to his cheek. "It's okay... it's just a finger."   
"But-" A gentle kiss effectively silenced him and he pulled her to him, onto his lap, buried her hand in her hair and tasted her mouth as if it was the first time.   
"It's only a finger, Sam," she murmured and wiped his tears away. "I would have given more than that."   
"I love you," he murmured back and kissed her smile.   
"I love you more. But Val is right, we must talk."   
He sighed. "I missed you."   
"I missed you too, Sam, but..." Now she was the one who sighed and sat down on the sofa next to him again. For a moment they looked at each other and Sam nodded slowly. He was back home and Romy was- almost- all right, so certain things could wait. After all, he was more than just a simple man.

"Okay," he said, making an inviting gesture.   
Romy licked her lips. "I have good news and... bad news."   
He lowered his head against the back of the sofa and sighed annoyed. "How bad?"   
"I'd like to start with the good news."   
"Well then," he muttered weakly.   
"Valerie has found a knight," Romy said, sounding a little reserved; Sam frowned.   
"No kidding."   
"Hmm. Actually... she's fallen head over heels in love."   
"Had to happen sometime."   
"Franz Bellcastle."   
_"What?"_ Sam's head jerked up and Romy smiled tensely.   
"Desiree's older son. He came with his cousin Maximilian. You know. To meet Arianna."   
"The deal with Ringbay, I remember. My goodness." Sam rubbed his forehead and then looked at Romy, whose reaction he still found a little odd. "Doesn't he suit you?"   
"Hmm? Oh, yes, Franz is a nice guy. Very charming and attentive, but probably not made for Darkmoore." That was obviously not what she really wanted to talk about, and Sam thought for a moment very intentionally about his daughter, who was slowly growing up. On his desk was still the little statuette that Romy had given him as a disguised pregnancy announcement - he still felt like an idiot because he didn't understand it at the time.

He took a deep breath. "I repeat my question: how bad is the bad news?"   
Romy suddenly sat very still. "If things are bad, there could be war."   
"What?" He raised his eyebrows in amazement. He hadn't expected that. "I mean... I've pulled myself together to keep it straight with Rockvalley, and then I come home and find you waving a declaration of war? To who? By who?"   
"Ringbay."   
_"Ringbay?"_ He blinked irritated a couple of times. "What the fuck? Huh?" What dramatic political shifts had occurred that-   
"Matt got Arianna pregnant."   
"Matt... got... That's a joke, right?"   
She shook her head.   
"Please tell me this is a joke," he begged.   
"Sorry, Sam." She lowered her eyes. "The girl is pregnant and wants to keep the baby. And believe me, I talked to her a lot."   
Speechless, Sam stared at her and finally got up, dazed, to walk up and down the room.   
"I've already written messages to Sunplains and Ringbay, their answers should be on their way by now." He barely heard Romy's calm words.   
"We are talking about children," he blurted out.   
"I know, but-"   
"Children! Romy, they're not even old enough to get married prematurely. I mean... what about the Sunplains deal?"   
"Matt could take Maximilian's place, and we-"   
"What exactly is going on here?"   
"Sam! Stay calm."   
He stopped suddenly and looked at her. "I _am_ calm," he said emphatically, while he really tried hard not to let the consternation turn into anger. What were they thinking? Quite deliberately he opened his hands clenched in fists.   
"Stay calm," Romy repeated slowly. "We can't have you saying or doing things you'll regret afterwards."   
"Like what?", he wanted to know gloomily, and she sighed.   
"I'm certainly not going to give you stupid ideas now."   
He snorted and ran his fingers through his hair. "If I promise to stay calm as the soon-to-be king, may I at least get angry as a father?"   
Into Romy's sigh came a knock.   
"Oh, for fuck's sake. Come in!" It was a damned inconvenient time for a disturbance, but actually it didn't surprise Sam when Matt stood in the doorway.   
"Father, may I... may I come in?"   
Sam pressed his lips together and nodded.   
Matt pushed the door shut behind him, as if he didn't want to be here at all, and let his head hang down. Before the boy could get tangled up in any stammered excuses, Sam coolly said:   
"I have asked you to devote yourself to your studies. And I certainly didn't mean any lectures on female anatomy."   
"I know, Father. I'm sorry," Matt whispered; his folded hands trembled.   
"Do you have any explanation for me? One that isn't absolutely ridiculous and that assures me that you can think with your head and not just with your dick?"   
Romy cleared her throat warningly and Matt sniffed.   
"Maximilian isn't a very nice guy," he said firmly enough to make Sam assume that the two had clashed at one time or another. "He was pretty mean to Arianna and tore up one of her books. A book of poetry and I wanted... Uncle Gordon told me not to fight with him, so I tried to comfort Arianna and took her to the library. To... to read other poems to cheer her up." He sniffed again and looked up for a fleeting moment. "I know you don't want to hear this anyway"- Sam snorted- "but she started the kissing."   
"Your brother had a half-naked girl in his very naked lap and still managed to say _no_." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Romy raise an eyebrow, and probably the sentence was really not quite fair, but it was said. He sighed. "Matt, listen-" His attempt to redirect the matter back into the path of a civilized conversation was interrupted by Matt.   
"He probably just doesn't like girls."   
If the choice of words had been a little different and if the tone of voice hadn't been contempt of all things, Sam could have taken it. But so, it was the last straw and with long steps he approached Matt, grabbed his chin and hissed:   
"That's enough! That's not the way I raised you!"   
"Sam!"   
"I've put up with your grandfather passing his escapades on to you, but this is going too far! Nobody chooses their preferences and to despise someone for it..." Out of sheer indignation, he lacked the words. Matt's eyes had grown big and Romy said sharply in the background:   
"Sam, let him go."   
"Do you really believe it? That men who like other men are contemptible?" he asked silently. His chest was on fire, his cheeks were burning and his grip on Matt's chin was too tight.   
"It's wrong," Matt whispered, choked, somewhere between scared and angry. "That's not how the Great Mother created us, it's dirty and-" It wasn't Matt's fault that Sam had already suffered Rick's hurtful reaction, but he definitely went too far and Sam gritted his teeth for a moment.   
"You know, Matthew... your father quite enjoys the company of another man," he said as calmly as he could.   
Matt became even paler than he had been before.   
"And now I ask you to pack your things and leave the castle before I throw you out myself." Sam let go of his son, ashamed for a second of the red marks he left on his face, and turned away. "At my coronation, you can come back and listen with all the dignity you have left after your behavior, that all titles and rights are taken away from you."   
"Father, I-"   
"Shut up." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Romy's frozen expression. "Matthew Blackwood, you are dismissed."   
The only answer was the sound of the door opening and then closing.


	15. It's good to know when to draw a line under it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the end, even our king-to-be and heroic knight is just a man. A prince and husband and father, but also a brother and yes, just a normal guy... :)

For a very, very long time it was quiet and Sam tried to keep his composure. When he finally turned to Romy, she seemed surprisingly calm.  
"Was that really necessary?" she asked quietly.  
"Probably not," he admitted and rubbed his face. "I'm sorry."  
Slowly, she came over and hugged him. "I didn't realize how sensitive you really are about this."  
He returned the hug and laughed softly, it was a strange sound that actually sounded almost desperate. "What bothers me most are the religious thoughts about it. If the Great Mother had really found such preferences reprehensible and dirty, she would not have given us the opportunity to do so in the first place."  
"I suppose that's true," Romy quietly agreed with him. "But teenagers go against the rules as much as they cling to them."  
"We've left behind the days when religious sins could be severely punished, dear, otherwise Matt would be studying at the convent until he comes of age," Sam mumbled.  
"You're comparing apples to pears right now, darling," she objected and he sighed.  
"Maybe."  
She kissed his cheek and let go. "Well... you may have taken a different route than I had planned, but the result is the same."  
Irritated, he raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"  
"Matt becomes a Darkmoore prince."  
"Um... and why were you planning on doing this?"  
"Arthur wanted a king's son for Arianna and we can offer him one, but Whitehill is unable to take over all the other negotiated points Sunplains agreed to. You'd lose too much."  
"Maybe so, but-"  
"Darkmoore is different, Sam, I can renegotiate certain paragraphs. It's definitely not a win-win, but I'm not losing as much as you are. Besides, Valerie and Franz are basically just waiting for your approval and when their engagement is official, good King Frederick will have much less to complain about."  
"But Franz is not his son, only his nephew."  
"And yet, in a few years, he will be a prince consort."  
"Prince Consort of Darkmoore is not King of Ringbay."  
Romy sighed annoyed. "Are you just going to throw Matt out and do nothing else?"  
"No, of course not, but you're just talkin' down the damage," Sam returned and crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
"All we can do is limit the damage and make Matt a Prince of Darkmoore is part of it," she said seriously and he nodded.  
"I got that."  
"Good."  
They looked at each other and he ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry. Damn it, I'm _sorry_."  
"Should I get him back?"  
"No." Sam grimaced, but shook his head. "No. Talk to him. Make it look like I'm kicking him out for the obvious misstep. I... oh, _Great Mother_." He rubbed his face and sighed. Romy had told him not to do anything rash and of course he had done so.  
"Of course, I will talk to him and make it clear to him how much his thoughtless words hurt you. But you should still talk to him _before_ the coronation," she said gently and he nodded.  
"Yes, sure. But I still want to hear a serious apology. Oh, and let Rick talk to him."  
"What for?" Now it was her who seemed a little irritated.  
"Rick saw Owen and I kissing. After Emmett kissed _him_ , he freaked out and called us a bunch of perverts, even though he didn't seem to have a problem with Gavin and Owen before."  
"Ouch," Romy mumbled, making a face. Sam halfheartedly shrugged.  
"He apologized and learned his lesson." A smile flitted across his face. "In the end, he even freely admitted that he liked Emmett's kisses."  
"I guess you don't have to get your hopes up with Matt for that, but we'll see."  
Sam nodded thoughtfully and Romy smiled weakly.  
"Well, I guess I'll go take care of our son then. Now don't make that face, he'll get over it and when you two talk, the world will look different."  
Sam sighed. "I wanted to tell you exactly what happened, but what the heck. Take care of Matt, I can wait."  
She nodded and kissed him tenderly. "I love you and I've missed you terribly."  
"I've missed you, too."  
"Take a bath. You stink."  
"I took a bath at the inn three days ago."  
"I don't care, you stink of rotten apples."  
"Yes, dear." He looked after her as she left and sighed deeply. He knew full well that Matt would complain bitterly about how he was being treated and that Rick was the darling anyway. He would cry and whine and rage, he would refuse to accept Rick's help, and then at the last minute he would stand at Sam's door and ask for forgiveness.  
And Sam would forgive him, because yes, Matt was his son, and if Arianna's father wanted to defend his daughter's honor with war, Sam would gladly answer.  
But the damage was done.

~

After a long relaxing bath, Sam was just getting dressed when there was a knock. Pulling his shirt over his head, he went back into the main room and shouted: "Come in!"  
To his surprise, Rick and Gordon stood at the door.  
"Come in," he repeated simply, but while Gordon entered with a nod, Rick shook his head.  
"I... um..." Embarrassed, he rubbed his neck. "I'd like to go to Balius with Mom and Matt."  
"Don't you think you should give your brother a little time to think about certain things?"  
"Yes, but I want to tell them what happened."  
"Don't spare any details."  
Rick raised an eyebrow, but since Romy had obviously already spoken to him, he said: "Actually, I was going to leave certain details up to you."  
Sam shook his head. "Tell him the truth. And make it clear that this is a matter for the smallest circle of the family."  
"Okay..." Rick nodded and disappeared.  
Gordon seemed a little irritated. "What kind of things and details are we talking about?"  
Sam sighed. "Sons, Gordon, sons..."  
Gordon's frown deepened critically before muttering, "As if daughters were better."  
"Are you gonna bug me about politics right now, or can this wait till tomorrow? I've had enough already," Sam said and dropped himself on the sofa, Gordon made himself comfortable on the second.  
"I'll just shut up then."  
"Good." Sam leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment before asking: "What is your relationship to Sarah-Jane and Trent?"  
Gordon snorted. _"Sarah"_ \- he emphasized the name because he thought the double name was silly - "has always treated me like an unnecessary appendage and after you left, it got really bad. So consider a relationship of any kind as non-existent."  
Sam nodded slowly and then told Gordon what had become of the disappearance of the twins.

"I have questions... a lot of questions..." Gordon said gloomily and Sam sighed.  
"Me too, but I don't think I want to hear most of the answers."  
"Probably not, no." Now Gordon sighed, too. "I don't even try to understand Trent, I hardly know him, but Sarah... She's always had an aversion to magic and then she throws herself at a wizard? And adopts his children, even though they are almost guaranteed to have magic in them thanks to a witch as their mother? I don't get it."  
"Love," Sam simply said. "Love is blind and stupid."  
Gordon laughed dryly and shook his head. "I feel sorry for the kids. Well, Emily maybe less so, apparently she seems to fit into the game, but Emmett..."  
"I think I'm going to work with Romy to draft some laws on children's rights, and as soon as they are passed, send Rockvalley a friendly greeting."  
"You think that'll help?"  
"The Oakshields are a stubborn bunch and they don't like interference-"  
"That's what I mean."  
"-but they've always been concerned about protecting and supporting the weaker elements of society."  
"Well..." Gordon muttered skeptically, but Sam shrugged.  
"My hands are tied when it comes to legal channels, Gordon."  
"What about the illegal ways?"  
Sam snorted. "No. I'm certainly not gonna stoop to their level." It certainly wouldn't be a great time, but Emmett was old enough to handle it.  
Gordon was obviously not happy with that answer, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Okay," Gordon then said determinedly and stood up, whereupon Sam looked at him questioningly. "I'm going to take a piss and after I'm going to kick your balls with the latest knight problems."  
"Gordon, no politics!"  
"I'm talking about the Order, Sam." Gordon contradicted him and crossed the room.  
"Order politics is still politics."  
"You put me in charge of the government in your absence, and if you want me in command in a few years, you'll have to go through it now as well." The bathroom door closed and Sam sighed. At least he could be sure that Gordon took his job seriously, even if he hated state politics.  
Sam rubbed his face and also stood up to pour himself a glass from the water carafe on the dining table. He was not yet holding it in his hand when there was a knock. Couldn't he be left alone for even one evening?  
"Come in." To his surprise, it was Margareth who entered, and according to her smile, she was not looking for her husband.  
"Good evening, Sam. It's good to have you back," she said gently.  
He nodded to her. He knew that smile- when she put it on, flirtation usually followed inevitably, and while her attempts annoyed him every time, she still didn't seem to get it after all these years. "Margareth... to what do I owe the honor?" Before she answered, she stroked her dress - it was a thoughtless gesture - and in surprise he noticed the curvature of her belly. Since Gordon hadn't told him anything about the pregnancy, he denied himself congratulations and said instead:  
"I thought you didn't want a third."  
Margareth seemed perplexed for a moment, then she smiled wryly. "It's not the little worm's fault that I was sloppy with the tea. Besides, one more child won't put us in poverty."  
No, not at all, but Sam knew his brother- and he knew Margareth.  
"Could you please stop looking at me like that," she then asked with a slight frown into his thoughts.  
"How am I looking at you?" He didn't want to get involved in this matter, really, he didn't.  
"Accusingly."  
"Do you have anything to be accused of that you feel offended?"  
She said nothing, but pressed her lips together, which was actually answer enough. And Gordon was in the bathroom next door, _great_.  
Finally, she lowered her eyes. "Gordon is admittedly not overly enthusiastic, but..."  
"But what?" Sam looked at his sister-in-law and when she raised her eyes again, there was something in it that Sam almost called calculation.  
"To Gordon, the knights are more important than his family." This was actually new to Sam, because Gordon loved both his wife and his daughters idolatrously.  
"I doubt it," he said. Of course, the conversation now took that one direction he had wanted to avoid.  
"Do you really know your brother as well as I know him?"  
It was a walk around all houses that Sam didn't want to do. He had kept silent all these years to keep the happiness in his little brother's eyes, while their sisters were unhappy in their political marriages and their parents only wore masks. But probably the time of silence was over now.  
"Well," he said and reached for the water carafe, "I think I know at least _you_ better than your husband does." He poured a glass full and drank while Margareth looked at him coldly.  
"What do you mean?"  
He smiled joylessly. "We both know that I've seen things I shouldn't have, because they should never have happened." He put down the glass, leaned with the hip against the table and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I doubt whether that's Gordon's child." In his mind, he begged Gordon for forgiveness.  
"No, it's not," Margareth admitted openly.  
"Whose is?"  
"Sir Christopher's."  
Sam grimaced - the younger brother of the disliked Commander Cullen was like a punch in the gut. Or a kick in the nuts, in Gordon's case. "And Sylvia?"  
Margaret's answer was a shrug. "Politics is made by many important men." The way she said that almost disgusted Sam.  
"You'll tell Gordon about this."  
"He must..."  
"You _will_ tell him," Sam repeated coldly. "And then you will leave Feather Springs with Sylvia and Sir Christopher. You are no longer welcome here." He was sorry for the girl, it wasn't her fault, but it was probably better for her to go with her mother than to stay at her family home where her foster father couldn't bear to look at her. After all, he had also just kicked out his own son.  
Margareth swallowed and seemed to want to protest, but nodded in the end. Then she turned around, but stopped at the door once more. "Actually, I came to tell you about the developments in the Northwest. My father has taken a path I don't want to follow."  
"Dear Margareth, now don't pretend that men like Sir Christopher were _political_ whispers between the sheets."  
She said nothing to that, but actually left Sam's rooms.

For a moment Sam stared at the door, then turned around and stopped after only two steps when a chalky pale Gordon stepped out of the corridor.  
"You knew," he said faintly, more astonishment than a reproach in his voice.  
Sam nodded and shrugged at the same time. Gordon licked his lips and looked down; heavy silence fell over the brothers, which Sam didn't want or could not break.  
"I will always be the little brother you have to protect, won't I?" Gordon finally asked. He was so calm that Sam assumed he must have suspected something.  
"I didn't mean to-"  
"Don't say anything. Just... just don't say anything. Okay?"  
"Gordon... okay. As you want."  
Gordon nodded and ran his hands through his hair, pausing in mid- gesture and swaying while color returned to his face. "Let's go to the barracks," he said and snuffled noisily. "Before I break something."  
"Do you want to fight or drink?" Sam asked and followed him; he would be content with either option, there was a lot of stuff to digest.  
"Since Romy's not here to patch us up, the choice is drinking."

~

The great hall of the barracks became quite suddenly silent as the two princes entered, but before Sam could think about it, Gordon shouted:  
"Carry on!"  
They sat down at an empty table rather at the edge and almost immediately a boy - whether squire or servant was hard to tell - ran up and asked eagerly:  
"Beer or wine, Your Highnesses?"  
Sam forced himself to smile. "Tonight, we are merely knights."  
"Wait two minutes," said Gordon, then climbed onto his chair - again, silence fell. "Our Crown Prince is giving his knights two barrels of wine tonight- from the Coronation Contingent!"  
"Do I?" Sam murmured, while the knights and squires present broke into cheers.  
"All those on duty during the celebrations: raise! Tonight, we are all equal!"  
Sam raised an eyebrow while Gordon sat down again. The boy hurried away while someone went to fetch Gordon's promised barrels.  
"You mean it, hmm?"  
"What? The drinking?" With some effort, Gordon pulled his wedding ring off his finger and put it on the table. "Or this?"  
Sam sighed and took the wine cup that was handed to him. "I'll drink with you and I'll sign your divorce papers, but I'd like to do the wine distribution myself."  
Gordon grinned crookedly. "They are your knights. Well, soon they'll be yours." He nodded towards a group of squires. "Those boys over there could be knights already, but they wanted to wait. They want to receive their knighthood from you."  
"Why?"  
"Because you're special, Sam. You're a dragon slayer, a dragon, a hero like in the old days. Many already call you The Golden." Gordon twitched his brows and emptied his cup in one gulp.  
" _The Golden_? Great Mother, how pompous." Sam sipped the wine.  
"Are you or are you not a golden dragon?"  
"Yes, I am, but-"  
"Then don't complain."  
"Hrmpf. Well, after all, gold is better than red."  
" _Again_ these wretched comparisons to Alexander..." Gordon rolled his eyes.  
"I don't have to compare myself to him, Gordon. We don't even know enough about him, but hey... I got a family- he didn't. I'm older than he ever got, and-"  
"Let it go. The boys adore you anyway."  
It was a weird feeling. That young women admired him because he was a good-looking man, well, he could live with that by now, but he really didn't need hero worship for his person.

The wine that Sam had donated was brought and cheered on again, but Sam and Gordon drank in silence. The golden ring lay on the table as if accusing, and finally Gordon reached for it, looked at it briefly and put it away.  
"What men do you know about?"  
"Do you really want to know? I mean, I certainly don't know everything..." Sam said cautiously and Gordon's jaw clenched, his teeth grinding clearly audible.  
"At least I want to know how much she'll try to talk her way out of it."  
Sam nodded, he could understand that- so he listed the handful of names of men in important positions he knew about. They had been political moves, for sure, but how many more might there be that he didn't know about?  
"Did you suspect something?" He wanted to know, hoping that Gordon would not ask any more questions. He didn't want to have to give Gerald's name as well - that would be a strike from which Gordon would probably not recover.  
"Yes," Gordon admitted quietly. "I was in Redriver for a while, and I can count."  
Sam nodded calmly.  
"Is at least Marida mine?" Gordon then asked bitterly.  
"I guess so. You know, dragons - real dragons - have a kind of sense of blood ties and Rick only brought up Sylvia."  
"Useful ability."  
"Hmm. But I'm gonna have to figure out a way to get Rick's dragon form in line with the law, otherwise, I have no heir."  
Gordon raised an eyebrow. "You just kicked Matt out, what about Sammy?"  
"Sammy will be joining the Order of Witcher in a few years."  
Gordon gave an impressed whistle and then laughed. "You have an impressive bunch of kids."  
"I'd be a lot happier if a certain curly-head had left a less _permanent_ impression."  
Gordon's grin was already showing the first signs of wine - usually he didn't drink much, and certainly not that fast. "That's the disadvantage of girls - they have a stupid habit of getting pregnant. If he had stuck to boys, this wouldn't have happened."  
Sam snorted, but Gordon winked at him. However, before he could word a question to the somehow conspiratorial-looking Gordon, a group of squires came to the table.  
"Sir Samson?"  
"Yes?" He looked up and into embarrassed faces.  
"Would you tell us about the dragons?"  
"Which ones?"  
"The ones you killed," said one, while another interjected:  
"And those with whom you made friends."  
"What about the one you saved your Queen from?"  
"Where did you get your skills?"  
"And your son?"  
"Well, will you share your heroics with us?" Gordon mocked.

Gordon had enough decency to slow down his drinking speed significantly while Sam talked his mouth dry. When the squires left three hours later, their eyes sparkling, Sam sighed deeply.  
"You'd think the Great Mother herself had appeared to them."  
Gordon laughed softly. "No. But you told them your heroic stories in person. And in a few weeks, you'll knight them, and then they'll fight to be enlisted in the Kingsguard to stand guard outside your bedroom."  
"Does the Kingsguard need new men?"  
"Let's just say I'd like to clean up there."  
Sam said nothing, just nodded, while Gordon filled his cup again. He looked over at the squires who began to sing, and smiled melancholy.  
It felt as if it had been an eternity since he had sat here and listened to the arrogant discussions of the older squires. That he had sat here and written his theory exams. That he had been knighted by his father, whom he had sincerely admired at the time. Gordon had been a scrawny boy back then and had brought Sam's shield to him with a reverent look.  
The squires began a new song and Gordon tapped the fingernail against his cup in tune.  
 _"Hey-ho-oh, Fortuna! Hey-ho Fortuna, oh!"_ It was the song Erik had sung in Balius on New Year's Eve- this too felt as if it had been in another life.  
In a few weeks Sam would be king and knight the singing boys and then it wouldn't be appropriate anymore to sit and drink with them here. He laughed softly and got a questioning look from Gordon over the rim of the cup. Time really didn't stop, so he drank his wine and lifted the cup high into the air.  
 _"Hey-ho oh, Fortuna! Hey-ho, Fortuna, oh!"_ He poured himself some wine and stood up, the last chorus on his lips.  
Owen was right. It was time for the next generation.  
  
But it could wait until tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to all of you for reading! 
> 
> Who wants to know what happens after [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23171497/chapters/64327804)


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